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roURTH Edition— Revised and Enlamed. 



WASHINGTON, D. C. : 

PUBLISHED BY CASIMEB, BOIIN", 
No. 5G3 Pennsylvania Avenue. 



SOLD BY BOOKSELLERS GENERALLY. 






Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year eighteen 
hundred nnd fifty-six, by CAS i:\IIR BOHN, in the Clerk's 
Ofiice of the Disti'ict Court of the United States for tJi2 District 
of Columbia. 



6t5t n,iV 



I 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 

The Seat of Government... 5 

Street Directory 12 

Potomac lliver , 13 

The Capitol 14 

New Hall of Ptcpresentatives '■. 16 

Ne\y Senate Chamber 19 

Rotunda 21 

Congressional Library 28 

Supreme Court 33 

Rooms of tlic Court of Claims 33 

Old Hall of Representatives ,... 34 

New Dome 34 

The Executive Mansion 39 

The Executive Departments : 

Department of State 43 

Treasury Department 45 

War Department 46 

Navy Department 4^ 

Department of the Interior 4*7 

Post Office Department 49 

Office of the Attorney General 50 

The National Observatory 50 

The Washington Arsenal 54 

The Navy Yard 58 

The Smithsonian Institution G2 

The Washington Monument C4 

The National Medical College 66 

The Columbian College 67 

The Military Asylum 68 

The Coast purvey Office 69 

The National Cemetery 12 

3 



4 CONTENTS. 

Page. 

The City Hall 74 

Churches of Washington *IQ 

Fine Arts in Washington 79 

AssocinWons and Socieiics 80 

Washington Hotels 82 

National Armor}' 83 

OfTicial Salaries 83 

Official Receptions 84 

The Marlceis of Washington 86 

The Climate cf Washington.. 86 

Spcciiic Diiiie'! of Executive Oazcers 83 

The Public Schoo-s 108 

The Nutional Institute 103 

Medical Department Georgetown College 109 

Columbia Institution 109 

Equestrian Statue of Washington 110 

Hospital for the Insane 1 11 

Georgetown 112 

Geo go town (College 113 

Acidemy of Visitation 115 

The Aquednct 116 

Oak Hill Cemetery 117 

The Little Falls .." 118 

The Great Falls 118 

Potomac Water W^orks 119 

Arlington House 125 

Alexandria \2Q 

Mounc Vernon 128 

Bladensburg 132 

Fort Washington 132 




r^-^-% 



LOljfS" STATUE (rfGEN'-JACFsSOH 



ianb-^ooli of MasIjingtaiL 



THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT. 

The object of this little volume is simply to 
supply Strangers, who may visit the National 
Metropolis on business or pleasure, with all the 
information of a local character, calculated to be 
of service to them. But before proceeding with 
details, it will be proper to give the leading facts 
connected with the establishment of the present 
Seat of the General Government. The idea of 
locating it on the Potomac was originally sug- 
gested by General George Washington, after long 
and mature deliberation, and the Act of Congress, 
which created the territory of the District of Co- 
lumbia, was passed on the 16th of July, 1790; — • 
in the Senate by a vote of 14 to 12, and in the 
House of Representatives of 32 to 29. The law 
provided, however, that the Government should 
not be removed from Philadelphia to Washington 
until the year 1800, and that the intervening 



6 IIAXD-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

time should be employed, under the direction of 
Commissioners appointed for the purpose, in pre- 
paring suitable buildings at the latter point for 
the accommodation of Congress, and of the Presi- 
dent, and for the Public Offices. The quantity of 
land set aside for National purposes was one hun- 
dred square miles, forming a square of ten miles, 
and spaning the Potomac River at the head of 
ship navigation : and the States which ceded to 
the Nation the necessary portions of their domain 
were Maryland and Virginia. The corner-stone 
of the District of Columbia was laid at Jones' 
Point, near Alexandria, on the 15th April, 1791, 
by Daniel Carroll and David Stuart, with all the 
Masonic ceremonies usual at that time ; and the 
corner-stone of the Capitol was laid, with similar 
honors, by General "Washington, on the 18th 
September, 1793. The design of the city was 
executed by Major L'Enfant, under the direction 
of Washington himself; and the streets were 
chiefly laid out by A. EUicott, and two gentlemen 
by the name of King. The limits of the city 
extend from north-west to south-east, about four 
miles and a half, and from east to south-west 
about two miles and a half. The streets, which 
vary from seventy to one hundred and ten feet in 
width, run from north to south, and from east to 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 7 

west, crossing each other at right angles, with 
the exception of fifteen noble avenues, which point 
to that number of States, which were the first to 
enter the Union. The soil of Washington City 
and surrounding country is generally of a light 
clay or sand, and is cultivated at considerable ex- 
pense ; and while bilious and intermittent fevers 
prevail in certain localities in the fall of the year, 
as a general thing the place is as free from epi- 
demical diseases as any other in the country. Laid 
out as the city was, on an extensive scale, there 
is always a free circulation of wholesome air, and 
the best of water is to be found in ail directions. 
The climate, for many years past, has been be- 
coming gradually more moderate and salubrious 
than it was in the olden times, and upon the 
whole may be pronounced as agreeable and healthy 
as that of any other section of the United States. 
The circumference of the city according to Mr. 
Watterson is 14 miles, the aggregate length of 
streets 199 miles, and of the avenues 65 miles. 
The avenues, streets, and open spaces, contain 
3,604 acres; and the public reservations, 10, 11 
and 12, since disposed of for private purposes, 513 
acres. The whole area of the squares of the city 
amounts to 131,684,176 square feet, or 3,016 
acres; one-half of which, 1,508 acres, was re- 



8 HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

served for the use of the United States, and th i 
remaining half assigned to the original proprietor? ; 
1,53G acres belonged to the United States. 

A more beautiful site for a city could hardly 
be obtained. From a point where the Potomac, 
at a distance of 295 miles from the ocean, and 
flowing from north-west to south-east, expands to 
the width of a mile, it extends back upon a level 
plain, hemmed in by a series of gradually slop- 
inn; hills terminatinir with the hei£;hts of Georfre- 
town ; the plain being nearly three miles in length, 
from east to west, and varying from a quarter 
of a mile to two miles in breadth. It is bounded 
on the east by the Eastern Branch of the Potomac, 
where are now the navy yard and congressional 
cemetery, and on the N^cst by the Rook Creek, 
which separates it from Georgetown. The small 
stream from the north, over which the railroad 
bridge now passes, on entering the City, emptied 
into a bay or inlet of the Potomac about 400 feet 
wide, which jutted in from the west, to within a 
quarter of a mile of Capitol Hill, and nearly 
divided the plaiii. Not far from the head of this, 
and south of Capitol Hill, a small stream 
took its rise in a large number of springs, and 
emptied into the river, at a place now called 
Greenlcafs Point, formed by the intersection of 



HAND-BOOK OF WASniNGTOX. 9 

tlio Eastern Branch with the Potomac, and was 
known as James Creek. There is a stream above 
Georgetown which has always been called Goose 
Creek ; but, from a certificate of a survey now 
preseiTcd in the mayor's office, at Washington, 
dated 1G(53, it appears that the inlet from the 
Potomac was then known by the name of Tiber, 
and probably the stream from tlie north emptying 
into it bore the same name ; so that Moore did 
injustice to the history of the place, and confound- 
ed streams, when he wrote the well-known line ; 

"And what was Gooso Crock once, is Tiber now." 

By the same survey, it appears that the land, 
comprising Capitol Hill, was called Home, or 
Koom, two names which seemed to have fore- 
shadowed the destiny of the place. Mr. Force, 
of Washington, suggests that they probably origi- 
nated in the fact that the name of the owner of 
the estate was Pojie, and, in selecting a name for 
his plantr/aon, he fancied the title of "Pope of 
Piome."* 

Tlie Commissioners reported that the public 
buildings would be ready for the reception of the 
government in the summer of 1800. Accord- 

* Joseph B. Yaruum. 



10 IIAND-r.OOK OF WASIIINGTOX. 

ingly, the Executive were, in the month of June 
in that year, removed from PhHadelphia to "Wash- 
ington, and Congress commenced its session there 
on the third Monday of November following. 
On this occasion in his opening speech, President 
Adams said : — " I congratulate the people of the 
United States on the assembling of Congress at 
the permanent seat of their government ; and I 
congratulate you, gentlemen, on the prospect of 
a residence not to be exchanged. It would be 
unbecoming the representatives of this nation to 
assemble for the first time in this solemn temple 
without looking up to the Supreme Kuler of the 
universe, and imploring his blessing. It is with 
you, gentlemen, to consider whether the local 
powers over the District of Columbia, vested by 
the Constitution in the Congress of the United 
States, shall be immediately exercised. If, in 
your opinion, this important trust ought now to 
be executed, you cannot fail, while performing it, 
to take into view the future probable situation of 
the territory, for the happiness of which you are 
about to provide. You will consider it as the 
capital of a great nation, advancing with unex- 
ampled rapidity in arts, in commerce, in wealth, 
and in population, and possessing within itself 
those resources which, if not thrown away, or 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 11 

lamentably misdirected, will secure to it a long 
course of prosperity and self-government." 

The Senate in their reply said : — " Wc meet 
you, sir. and the other branch of the national 
legislature, in the City which is honored by the 
name of our late hero and sage, the illustrious 
Washington, with sensations and emotions which 
exceed our power of description." 

The House of Representatives in reply, said: 
— "The final establishment of the seat of na- 
tional government, which has now taken place in 
the District of Columbia, is an event of no small 
importance in the political transactions of our 
country. Nor can we on this occasion omit to 
express a hope that the spirit which animated the 
great founder of this city, may descend to future 
generations ; and that the wisdom, magnanimity, 
and steadiness, which marked the events of his 
public life, may be imitated in all succeeding ages. 
A consideration of those powers which have been 
vested in Congress over the District of Columbia, 
will not escape our attention ; nor shall we forget 
that, in exercising those powers, a regard must 
be had to those events which will necessarily at- 
tend the capital of America." 



12 HAND-BOOK OP WASniNGT02?. 



THE STREET DIPtECTORY. 

The street plan of the city of AYashington ig 
symmetrically arranged for the convenience of 
facilitating distant points. There arc 1170 
blocks or squares, bounded by 22 avenues, rang- 
ing from 130 to IGO feet in width, named, as far 
as they go, after the different Slates; and 100 
streets, from 70 to 100 feet in v.'idth, running 
north and south, and crossed at right angles by 
streets running cast and Avcst, except wliere the 
avenues intersect, forming a considerable rect- 
angular or circular open space, v.'hich, v»'hen the 
city is built up, will give it an open appearance. 

The Capitol is the division of tlie streets, which 
arc alphabetically and numerically named. The 
streets running east and west arc designated b;; 
letters, having the words north or south ainxed 
to them, according as they arc situated north or 
south of the Capitol, as A street north, A street 
south, which is the Crsr street north or south of 
the Capitol. The streets running north and south 
arc designated by numbers, having the words cast 
or west affixed to them, according as tlicy arc 
Bituatcd east or west of the Capitol also, as 1st 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 13 

street cast, 1st street west. Thus cluplicato 
streets run parallel with each other, but differ 
only by having north or south, and cast or west 
attached. 

The avenues run diagonally across the streets. 
Three of these avenues intersect at the Capitol 
and three at the President's House, and an addi- 
tional one, Pennsylvania. This grand thorough- 
faro is very fine, being spacious, regular, and 
beautiful, running the whole length of the city, 
from the Eastern Branch to the Hock Creek, cm- 
bracing in its long stretch the Capitol, Presi- 
dent's House, and numerous other objects of 
interest, which is a noble feature, worthy of the 
admiration so universally bestowed. 



THE POTOMAC RIVER. 

Which passes along the District, is one of the 
broadest, and in several respects the most beau- 
tiful in the United States. It has its rise in the 
Alleghany mountains. This river, after a mean- 
dering course of about 400 miles, falls into the 
Chesapeake B-ay, about 100 miles below its head. 



14 HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

THE CAPITOIi. 

This building is situated on the western por- 
tion of an area enclosed by an iron railing, and 
embracing many acres. It is so elevated as to 
command a view of the entire City of AVashing- 
ton, the heights of Georgetown, the v/iudings of 
the Potomac and the City of Alexandria. 

The central part of this whole edifice — the old 
wings and center becoming the center of 
the nev;* — was commenced in the year 1793, 
with jMr. Ilallet as architect, who was suc- 
ceeded in that capacity by Mr. Iladficld, 
Mr. Iloban, and j^lr. Latrobe. Durlrg the Em- 
bargo and the accompanying vrar^ the work was 
suspended, and as the British subsequently de- 
molished much of what had been accomplished 
by the above named gentlemen, the Government 
in 1815 found it necessary to reconstruct it; and 
this portion of the building was finished chiefly 
under the superintendence of T*Ir. C. Eullinch. 

The exterior exhibits a rusticated basement of 
the height of the first story, the two other stories 
are comprised in a Corinthian elevation of pilas- 
ters and columns ; these columns which arc thirty 
feet in height form an advancing portico on the 
cast, one hundred and sixty feet in extent, the 



tjol 
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'« I* 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 15 

center of whieh is crowned with a podimont of 
eighty feet span, while a rcccdinp; loggia one 
hundred feet iu extent, distinguishes the center 
of the west front. 

The corner-stone of the extension was laid b}-- 
President Fillmore, on the 4th of Julj, 1851, 
with masonic ceremonies, on which occasion the 
Hon. Daniel Webster delivered a brilliant ora- 
tion. 

The extension and new dome was designed b}'' 
the able Government architect, Mr. T. U. Walter, 
and built under the Government superinten- 
dents, I\lessrs. I\Ieigs, Franklin, and West. 

The new wings are each three hundred and 
twenty-four feet in length, from east to west in- 
cluding porticos and steps, by one hundred and 
fifty-two feet eight inches from north to south 
also including porticos, and are connected to the 
main building by corridors, each forty-four feet 
in length and fifty-six feet in width, making the 
entire lencrth of the buildhii!; from north to south 
seven hundred and forty-five feet and eight 
inches. The top of the building is surroujjded 
by a balustrade of stone, and covered v/ith a loft3^ 
dome in the center. The v^diolo cost, indndin;^ 
the grounds surrounding it, will amount tv", whan 
completed, perhaps, over iU2,000,GuO. 



16 HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

In further describing the Capitol "wc shall 
speak of its various leading features separately, 
and in the following order : The new Senate 
Chamber, the new Hall of Representatives, the 
Rotunda, the Congressional Library, the Chamber 
of the Supreme Court (old Senate Chamber), the 
Court of Claims, the old Hall of Representatives, 
the new Dome, together with the Capitol grounds. 



THE KE\Y HALL OF REPRESENTATIVES. 

The new Hall of Representatives is 139 feet 
long, 93 feet wide, and 30 feet high. 

It is in form a parallelogram, with galleries on 
cither side, affording room lor 1200 persons, 
comfortably seated. Upon the floor are seats for 
2G0 Representatives, arranged upon a semicircu- 
lar plan, the seat and desk of the Speaker of the 
House being at the center of the semicircle, and 
in the middle of the south side of the Hall, 
which is one of the lonjrer sides of the room. 

The ceiling is of cast iron, with large skylights. 
The skylights arc glazed with an ornamented 
glass, having in the center of each skylight the 
arms of a State or Territory, emblazoned in 
colored glass. 

The room is lighted at night by means of about 



UAM>-IJ00K Of WAcULSOIO-V. J 7 

1 500 jots of gaB, which arc placed above the glass 
of the coiling, and which throw down a goft and 
agreeaUo light, Kcarccly to be dlstinguiiihed from 
that of a bright day. 

The area of this room is 12,r*27 square feet. 
It contains 465,372 cubic feet of space. About 
five thousand persons could stand in it if crowded, 
as is not uncommon in public meetings. 

The room is ventilated by numerous openings 
in the walls and floor, through which air, wanned 
in cold weather, by steam pipes in the ba.sement, 
is forced by a revolving fan of sixteen feet in 
diameter. This fan Ls driven by a*steam en<yine, 
and is capable of supplying one hundred thousand 
cubic feet of air per minute, and thus of renewino' 
the whole of the air in the Hall every five minutes. 

This engine and fan are placed in the cellar 
under the northwest comer of the south win^r of 

o 

the Capitol. The steam pipes, of which ten 
miles are used, in order to be able at any time, 
m the severest w^^ather, to control the temperature 
of the Hall, are placed in a room behind the 
western stairway of the south wing. 

The boilers are in vaults under the western 
terrace, outside of the buildluflr. These thin<^s 
are well worth a visit, and the persons em 



X8 nAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

ployed by the House to manage them and keep, 
thciii in order^ will always be found ready and 
obliging in giving any information or explana- 
tion in regard to them. 

The decoration of the Hull is yet far from 
complete. Panels on the gallery fronts liaTO 
been provided, which it is expected will be filled 
with pictures of American History, under the 
orders to be given by Congress ; and the upper 
part of the walls is filled with niches, empty as 
yet, but which will, at some future day, be ten- 
anted by the effigies in marble of our worthiest 
citizens. 

The walls and ceiling of the Hall have been 
richiy colored, and, when the panels are filled 
with paintmgs, and the niches with statues, the 
room will have a much more finished appearance 
At present, the design of the architect being 
incomplete, the efi"ect he arrived at can scarcely 
be appreciated. 



HAND-BOOK OF V/ASIIINGTON. 19 

THE NEW SENATE CHAMBER. 

The new Senate Chamber is built on the same 
general plan as that of the Representative Cham- 
ber. It is in the north y/ing, on the center of 
the second or principal floor. Like the other^ it 
is ceiled with iron and glass, lighted from above, 
and surrounded by galleries, under Vv^hich are 
cloak and hat and dressing rooms for the use of 
Senators. 

The style of decoration is rich, but in lighter 
color than those used in the llcprescntativc 
Hall. 

The lighting, heating, and ventilation are ar- 
ranged upon the same general plan as those of 
the House 

The size of the room is 80 feet 7 inches by 
113 feet 3 inches ; the height is 3G i'cct. The 
galleries seat comfortably 1200 persons. 

The heating and ventilating apparatus is under 
the southv/cst corner of the north wiug, and 
approached by a small staircase under the princi- 
pal western stairway. The boilers are under the 
exterior western terrace. 

The heating apparatus and fan are arranged 
CD a similar plan to that employed in the House. 



20 



IIA^l>-EOOK OF WASHINGTON. 



And here it occurs to us, we ought to mention 
a few of the regulations which appertain to tJie 
Senate Chamber and the Hall of Representatives 
durinir the sessions of Con2;ress. The irentleman 
whose duty it is to preside in the former is the 
Vice- President of the United States ; hut the 
Speaker of the House is elected to that position 
from its own body, and serves during all the 
sessions of one Congress. The only persons, bo- 
sides members, admitted to the floors of the two 
chambers, are the President and his Secretary, 
the Heads of the Departments and Bureaus, the 
Diplomatic Corps, all Governors of States, and 
all the ex-members of Congress, ex-Presidents 
and ex-Governors, c^c. &c.; as a privilege how- 
ever, the members can in person convey any friend 
to a scat in the lobby of the Senate or House. 
The regular business hours in the legislative halls 
durinii; the sittina's of Cc-n<:ress, are from 12 to 
o o'clock ; but when there is a pressui-e of busi- 
ness, towards the close of a session, it is customary 
to sit both day and night, — for many hours con- 
tinuously. Both houses of Congress are abun- 
dantly supplied with competent officers and clerks, 
under whose manag-ement all things usually go 
on like clock-work, and to any of whom every 
stranger may apply with perfect propriety for 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTOX. 21 

wha.1 information respecting the Capitol they ma,y 
reasoaably desire. 

The next interesting feature of the Capitol that 
we would describe is the Kotundo. It occupies 
the centre, and is ninety-six feet in diameter, and 
the same number of feet hisfh. The dome is 
hemispherical and filled with large plain caissons ; 
the room in its circuit is divided into eight panels, 
intended for paintings, all of which are already 
filled ; and stationed between these panels are 
four has relievos of historical subjects ; one re- 
presenting the Preservation of Cajjtain Smith by 
Pocahontas, one the Landing of the Pilgrims on 
Plymouth Roch, one the Conflict Jjctwcen Daniel 
Boone and the Indians, and the other Penn^s 
^ Treaty with the Indians. In addition to these 
specimens of sculpture are also displayed, encir- 
cled with floral wreaths, the heads of Columbus, 
Raleigh, La Sale, and Cabot; — all tliese produc- 
tions of the chisel being from the hands of Cau- 
sici and Capellano.^'^ Of the paintings four are 
by Col. John Trumbull, one by Weir, one by Van- 
derlyn, one by Chapman, and one by Powell. 
The subjects of Trumbull's pictures are first, the 

* In niches on the outside of the east door are also two 
statues of colossal size representing Peace and War^ froju 
the diisel of Persico. 



22 HAND-BOOK OF WASniNGTON. 

'■'DedaratioR of Independence,''^ the essential ob- 
ject of which was to preserve the portraits of the 
men who were the authors of that Deckration, 
As Col. Trumbull was one of the aids of General 
Washington in the E.evolutionary War, he had 
the best of opportunities for obtaining the por- 
traits from the living men, and the consequence 
is that we have authentic likenesses in this picture 
of the following personages : 



1. — George "Wythe, Virginia. 

2. — William Whipple, New Hampshire. 

3. — Josiah Bartlett, New Hampshire. 

4. — Benjamin Harrison, Virginia. 

5. — Thomas Lj-nch, South Carolina. 

6. — Ilichard Plenry Lee, Virginia. 

T. — Samuel Adams, Massachusetts. 

8. — George Clinton, New York. 
• 9.— William Paca, Maryland. 
10. — Samuel Chase, Maryland. 
11. — Lewis ^Morris, New York. 
12.— William Floyd, New York. 
13. — Arthur Middleton, South Carolina 
14. — Thomas Hayward, South Carolina. 
15.— Charles Carroll, Maryland. 
16. — George Walton, Georgia. 
17. — Robert ^lorris, Pennsylvania. 
18. — Thomas Willing, Pennsylvania. 
19. — Benjanun Rush, Pennsylvania. 
20.--Elbridgc Gerry, Massachusetts. 



nAXD-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 23 

21. — "Rohert Treat Pa3'ne, Massachusetts. 
22, — Abraham Clark, New Jersey. 
23. — Stephen IlopkiiiS; Rhode Island. 
24.— William Ellery, Rhode Island. 
25. — George Clymer, Pennsylvania. 
2G. — V\'illiam Hooper, North Carolina. 
27. — Joseph Ilewcs, North Carolina. 
28. — James ^Vilson, Pennsylvania. 
29, — Francis Ilopkinson, New Jersey. 
30. — John Adams, Massachusetts. 
31. — Roger Slicrman, Connecticut. 
32. — Roljcrt R. Livingston, New York. 
33. — Thomas Jclferson, Virginia. 
34. — Benjamin Franklin, Pennsylvania. 
35. — Richard Stockton, New Jersey. 
36. — Francis Lewis, New York. 
37. — John Witherspoon, New Jersey. 
38. — Samuel Huntington, Connecticut. 
39. — William Williams, Connecticut. 
40. — Oliver Wolcott, Connecticut. 
41. — John Hancock, Massachusetts. 
42. — Charles Thompson, Pennsylvania. 
43. — George Reed, Delaware. 
44. — John Dickinson, Delaware. 
45. — Edward Rutledge, South Carolina. 
46. — Thomas McKean, Pennsylvania. 
47. — Philip Livingston, New York. 

The second of Trurabuirs pictures represents 
Cbe ^'Surrender of General Bui-r/oijiie." To the 
intelligent spectator it will tell its own storj^ and 
we shall therefore content ourselves with simply 



24 HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

giving the names of those distinguished officers 
whose portraits appear upon this canvas, which 
are as follows : 

1. — I^Iajor Lithgow, Massiichnsetts. 

2. — Colonel Cillj, New Hampshire. 

3. — General Starke, New Hampshire. 

4. — Captain Sej-mour, Conn., of Sheldon's horse. 

5. — Major Hull, Massachusetts. 

6. — Colonel Greaton, Massachusetts. 

T. — Major Dearborn, New Hampshire. 

8. — Colonel Scammell, NeAV Hampshire. 

9. — Colonel Lewis, Q. M. G., New York. 
10. — Major-Gcneral Philips, British. 
11. — Lieuteaant-Gcneral Burgoyne, British. 
12. — General Baron Reidescl, German. 
13. — Col. "Wilkinson, Deputy Adj't General, American. 
14. — General Gates. 

15. — Colonel Prescott, Massachusetts Volunteer. 
16. — Colonel Morgan, Virginia Rifleman. 
17. — Brigadier-General llufus Putnam, JIassachusetts. 
18. — Lt. Col. John Brooks, late Governor of ."^hiss. 
19. — Rev. Mr. Hitchcock, Chaplain, Rhode Island. 
20. — Major Robert Troup, Aid-de-Camp, New York. 
21. — Major Haskell, Massachusetts. 
22. — Major Armstrong, Aid-de-Camp, now General. 
23. — Major-Gcneral Philip Schuyler, Albany. 
24. — Brigadier-General Glover, Massachusetts. 
25. — Brigadier-Gen. Whipple, New Hampshire ^lilitia. 
26. — Ma'jov Matthew Clarkson, Aid-dc-Camp, New York. 
27. — Major Eljenezor Stevens, Massachusetts, Command- 
iug the Artillery 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 25 

The tliird of the Revolutionary paintings re- 
presents the "■Surrender of the British Army^ 
wmmanded hif Lord Cormrallis, at Yorktown, in 
Virginia.^^ This picture contains the portraits 
S)f the principal officers of America, France and 
England, and their names are as follows : 

1. — Couat Deuxponts, Colonel of French Infantry. 

2. — Duke de Laval Montmorency, Colonel of French 
Ir.fantry. 

3. — Count Custine, Colonel of French Infantry. 

4. — Duke de Lauzun, Colonel of Cavalry, French. 

5. — General Choizy. 

6. — Viscount Viomenil. 

7. — Marquis de St. Simon. 

8. — Count Fersen, Aid-de-Camp of Count Rocharabeau, 

9. — Count Charles Damas, Aid-de-Carap of Count Ro- 

cbamheau. 
10. — Marquis Chastellux. 
11. — Baron Viomenil. 
12. — Count de Barras, Admiral, 
13. — Count de Grasse, Admiral. 
14. — Count Rochambeau, Gen. en Clief des Francaia. 
15.-7-Genei-al Lincoln. 

16. — Col. Ebenezer Stevens, of the American Artillery, 
1*7. — General Washington, Commander-in-Chief. 
18. — Thomas Nelson, Governor of Virginia, 
19. — j\Iarquis La Fayette, 
20. — Baron Steuben. 

21. — Colonel Cobb, Aid-de-Camp to Gen. "Washington, 
12. — Colonel Trumbull, Secretary to Gen. W^ashingtoa. 
3 



26 UAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

23. — Major-General James Clinton, New York. 

24. — General Gist, Maryland, 

25. — General Anthony "Wayne, Pennsylvania. 

2Q. — General Hand, Adjutant General, Pennsylvania. 

27. — General Peter Muhlenberg, Pennsylvania. 

28. — Major-Gen. Henry Knox, Commander Artillery. 

29. — Lieut. Col. E. Huntington, Acting Aid-de-Camp of 

General Lincoln, 
30.— Col. Timothy Pickering, Quarter Master GeneraL 
31. — Col. Alexander Hamilton, Com'dg Light Infantry. 
32. — Col. John Laurens, of South Carolina. 
33. — Col. Walter Stuart, of Philadelphia. 
34. — Col. Nicholas Fish, of Ne\Y York. 

The fourth and last of Trumbull's paintings 
represents tlic ' ■Resignation of General Wasfiing- 
ton at Annapolis f^ and the following named por- 
traits are here collected : 

1. — Thos. MiflQin, Pa., President, Member of Congress. 

2. — Charles Thompson, Pennsylvania, do. 

3, — Elbridge Gerry, Massachusetts, do. 

4. — Hugh Williamson, N. Carolina, do. 

5. — Samuel Osgood, Massachusetts, do. 

6. — Ed. McComb, Delaware, do. 

7. — George Partridge, ^Massachusetts, do. 

8. — Edward Lloyd, Maryland, do. 

9. — R. D. Si)aight, North Carolina, do. 

10. — Benjamin Hawkins, N. Carolina, do. 

11. — A. Foster, New Hampshire, do. 

12. — Thomas Jefferson, Virginia, do. 

13. — Arthur Lee, Virginia, do. 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTOX. -ii 

14. — David Howell, Rhode Island, Member of Congress. 

15. — James Munroe, Virginia, do. 

16. — Jacob Reid, South Carolina, do. 

n. — James Madison, Virginia — (Spectator.) 

18.- -William Ellery, Rhode Island, Member of Congress. 

19. — Jeremiah Townley Chase, Maryland, do. 

20. — S. Hardy, Virginia, do. 

21. — Charles Morris, Pennsylvania, do. 

22. — General Washington, do. 

23. — Col. Benjamin Walker, Aid-de-Camp. 

24. — Col. David Humphreys, do. 

25. — General Smalhvood, Maryland, Spectator. 

26. — Gen. Otho H. Williams, Maryland, do. 

27. — Colonel Samuel Smith, Maryland, do. 

28. — Col. John E. Howard, Baltimore, Md., do. 

29. — Charles Carroll and tv.'o daughters, Md., do. 

30. — Mrs. Washington and 3 grand children, do. 

31. — Daniel, of St. Thomas Jenifer, Maryland, do. 

The subjects of the remaming pictures in the 
Kotundo are the ''Einbarcatiou of the I^ilgrwis 
from Leyden,''^ by Weir, the ''Landing of Colum- 
hns,^^ by Vanclerlyn, the ''Bujytism of Focalion- 
tas," by Chapman, and '■'Diacuveri/ of the Missis- 
siijipi by De Soto," by Powell. A.s these illustrate 
scenes connected with the very earliest history of 
our country, none but the leading figures are to 
be considered in the aspect of authentic ]3ortraits, 
ind we therefore deem it unnecessary to particu- 
arize the various'personages delineated. And as 



28 HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTOX. 

our objoei in this Look is simply to give facts, it 
cannot bo cxj)cctcd that wc should play the })art 
of a critic, and we shall therefore leave to the 
spectator the rare privilege of forming his own 
opinion, not only of the pictures, but of every 
thing else that we may describe. 

We now come to speak of the Congressional 
Library which was, before the fire of 1851, one 
of the chief attractions of the Capitol. The prin- 
cipal Room, of which there were three, faced the 
west, and was a large and handsome afi'air, nine- 
ty-two feet long, thirty-four wide and thirty-six 
high : divided into twelve alcoves, ornamented 
with fluted pilasters ; and in every direction were 
displayed portraits and busts, cases of medals and 
other interesting works of art. The number of 
volumes which it contained was about 50,000, and 
the Catalogue, which was arranged on the system 
of Lord Bacon, comprised the following table of 
chapters : Ancient History, Modern History, of 
all the countries of Europe, Asia, Africa, and 
America, American Newspapers, Ecclesiastical 
History, Natural Philosophy, Agriculture, Chem- 
istry, Surgery, Medicine, Anatomy, Zoology, Bo- 
tany, Mineralogy and Conchology, Occupations 
of Man, Technical Arts, Ethics, Religion, Com- 
mon Law, Reports in every department of Learn- 



HAND-BOOK OF WASUINGTON. 29 

Ing and Legislation, Politics, Mathematics, As- 
tronomy, Greograpliy, Fine Arts, and all the 
Standards in Polite Literature, with many valua- 
ble Original Manuscripts. The original Library, 
which was collected under the direction of Mr. 
IniUatin and Mr. Mitchell, in 1800, was destroyed 
by fire during the last war, and that which lately 
enriched the Capitol, was founded upon one which 
was purchased by Congress, in 1814, of Thomas 
JefFcrson, for ^23,000.* So much for the past. 
We would now describe the Congressional Library 
as it is and will be when entirely completed. It 
will embrace, when the two wings of the Capitol 
are completed, the entire western projection of the 
present Capitol ; and while the main room is 91 
.feet long, 34 wide, and 38 high, the second and 
third are each 29 feet wide by 70 long, and of the 
same height as the preceding. These rooms are 
all fitted up with iron cases, and iron ceilings, 
roofed with copper, laid on iron rafters, and lighted 
by ornamental sky lights. In addition to the 
abo\e there are also two smaller rooms opening 
therefrom, which are employed by the Senators 
and Representatives as reading and conversation 

* The 3'early average increase is about 1,800 volumes. 
The sura of $5,000 is annually appropriated by Congress 
tor Miscellaneous Books, and $1,000 for Law Books. 



30 HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

rooms. Of the books in the old library, some 
20,000 were saved, while the special appropria- 
tions of Congress have been so liberal that a large 
part of the works destroyed, excepting the valua- 
ble manuscripts, have been replaced. The main 
library room, as it now appears, embraces the 
space occupied by the old library before the fire. 
On both sides of the room are three stories of iron 
cases, each nine feet six inches in height. The 
lower story consists of alcoves projecting eight 
feet six inches into the room, with cases on each 
side of the projections. The second story has 
similar alcoves, excepting that their projection is 
but five feet, which bears a platform of three feet 
six inches in width, resting on the cases below, 
and which constitutes a commodious gallery. A 
similar platform is constructed on the alcoves of 
the second story, forming a gallery to approach 
the upper cases ; thus making three stories, re- 
ceding as they ascend. These galleries are con- 
tinued across the ends of the room, where they 
are supported by massive brackets. The alcoves 
are nine feet eight inches in width, with an orna- 
mented pier forming the head of each projection. 
The architraves which cross the alcoves are fin- 
ished with shields, crowning bands and orna- 
ments. The shields are desia;ned ns tablets to 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 31 

receive the names of the general subjects on which 
the book in the respective alcoves treat. The 
galleries are all floored with cast iron plates, and 
protected by pedestals and railings ; they are ap- 
proached by two semi-circular stairways of cast 
iron, recessed in the end walls of the room. The 
ceiling is wholly composed of iron ; it is suspended 
from stroDo; iron trusses, which likewise constitute 
the support of the roof; it rests on twenty-four 
massy consoles, ornamented with foliage, fruits, 
and scrolls. Each of these consoles weighs nearly 
a ton. Their projection from the face of the walls 
is five feet six inches, their height five feet four 
inches, and their width twenty-one inches. The 
entire ceiling is divided into deeply sunken panels, 
and embellished with ornate mouldinsfs and fo- 
liated pendants. The room is lighted, in addition 
to the five windows in the western front, by eight 
sky-lights, in the ceiling, each six feet square, 
filled in with ornamented glass, and protected by 
an upper sky-light of seventy-seven feet in length 
by ten feet six inches in width, placed on a cor- 
responding angle with the roof, and covered with 
thick plates of glass. The roof is covered with 
copper, secured by copper wire to the iron rafters. 
It is heated by hot water pipes. 

The affairs of the Library are indirectly in 



32 HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

charge of a Librar}' Committee, consistiDg of 
members from the two houses of Congress, but 
the immediate superintendants are a Librarian 
and two assistants. The public in general are 
privileged to visit the Library and examine books 
on the spot, but members of Congress and the 
officers of the Executive Departments are all who 
enjoy the privilege of taking away any books 
that they may desire. The Library is open every 
day during the sessions of Congress, and during 
the recess on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Satur- 
days of each week, from 9 o'clock until 3. 

There is a law library atttached to the T'on- 
gressional Library, which is located in the base- 
ment, under the Supreme Court room ; at one 
time the Supreme Court held its sessions in this 
room. 

This library contains many rare and valuable 
works on the various departments of law. 

The books of this library are frequently re- 
ferred to by the Judges of the Supreme Court, 
the Court of Claims, and the members of the bar, 
as well as by members of both Houses of Con- 
gress. It contains about 18000 volumes. 



IIAND-EOOK OF WASHINGTON. 33 

SUPREME COURT ROOM. 
The apartment for the accommodation of the 
Court is in the old Senate Chamber, which was 
fitted up in 1800. It is in the second story, 
north of the Rotunda, of a semicircular form 
seventy-five feet long and forty-five high. The 
walls between small pilasters of marble placed in 
the circular wall are painted, and the whole sur- 
mounted by a dome ceiling enriched with square 
caissons. A screen of Ionic columns with capi- 
tals supports gallery to the east, forming a loggia 
below. The justices occupy a row of elevated 
seats alone; the front of the lo^ofia in their official 
capacity, clothed in black silk gowns or robes; 
and the members of the bar are accommodated 
with seats and desks in the body of the room. 
The bench of the Supreme Court, as it now 
stands, is composed of ten Judges, who assemble 
annually in Washington on the second Monday 
in January. 



ROOMS OF THE COURT OF CLAIMS. 
These rooms are on the first floor of the Capitol, 
immediately under the Congressional Library, 
and were fitted up in the spring of 1858 for the 
occupation of the Court. It is composed of five 
Judges. 



64: HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

THE OLD HALL OF REPRESENTATIVES 

Is in the second story leading to the south 
■wing, of a semicircular form ninety-six feet long 
and sixty feet high, and surrounded with twenty- 
four columns of variegated Potomac marble with 
capitals of white Italian of the Corinthian order. 
The dome is painted in imitation of that of the 
Pantheon of Rome, and just below the dome, 
under a sweeping arch extending from east to 
"west, is placed a model of a colossal figure of 
liberty in plaster by Causica. On the entablature 
beneath the figure is sculptured in stone the 
American eagle, in the act of taking wing, exe- 
cuted by Yalaperti. Immediately over the main 
entrance stands a statue in marble representing 
Historj' recording the events of the nation. She 
is placed on a winged car, rolling around a globe, 
on which are delineated the signs of the Zodiac, 
and the wheel of the car is the face of the clock 



THE NEW DOME. 



The old Dome of the Capitol was built of wood. 
The outer and inner shells were not concentric, 
and while the inner was, in proportions, a copy 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 36 

of that of tlie Pantlioon of Agrippa tit Rome, 
though much inferior in size, the outer dome was 
higher in proportion than that of the Pantheon- 

Its inflammable nature, and its narrow escape 
at the time the library was burnt, in 1851^ called 
attention to it, and it was finally resolved to re- 
place it by a Dome of iron, entirely fire-proof. 

The new Dome, in its proportions, resembles 
the modern rather than the antique structures of 
this character. Instead of the low and flat out- 
lines of the Pantheon of Rome, and the Saint 
Sophia of Constantinople, we see in the design a 
light structure, decorated with columns and 
pilasters, rich cornices and entablatures, spring- 
ing up towards the sky, and supporting, at the 
height of three hundred feet above the ground of 
the eastern square, and 372 feet above the western 
gate of the park, a colossal statue of Freedom in 
bronze, from the studio of the lamented Crawford. 

The interior diameter of the Dome is 96 feet. 
The height from floor of rotunda to the ceiling, 
which closes it in, is 220 feet in the clear. 

Galleries at various heights will aflbrd fine 
views of the interior and of the exterior. The 
views stretching many miles down the Potomac. 

The structure is double and between the exte- 



36 HAND-BOOK OF WASHIXGTON. 

rior and interior shells, a staircase winding spir- 
rally around the whole, affording access to the 
very summit. 

The general outline of this structure resembles 
that of the Dome of St Peter's of Rome ; of St. 
Paul's of London, and of St. Genevieve and the 
Invalides of Paris, and of the last great work of 
the kind erected in modern times, that of the 
Hussian National Church, the Cathedral of St. 
Isaac's at St. Petersburg, which is also partly 
built of iron. 

The interior diameter of the Dome is as above 
stated 9G feet. The exterior diameter of the 
peristylian circular colonnade is 124 feet 9] 
inches. The height of the whole 300 feet above 
the ground, or 230 feet above the roof of the 
Capitol. 

The height of the statue of Freedom, which 
surmounts the pinnacle of the mighty dome, is 
20 feet. It is a bronze cast executed by Mr. C. 
Mills. The design of this figure was the last 
inspiration of the lamented Crawford. 

It represents a female in a royal robe dress ; 
for a head dress «u eagle with spread wings. 
Ilcr right hand grasps the hilt of a sword, its 
point reaching to the feet; her left hand holds' 
a wreath over a shield. 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 37 

In addition to the apartments of the Capitol 
already speciiied, it should be mentioned that 
there are also a large number of ordinary, but 
well furnished rooms, which are occupied by the 
Vice-President, the Speaker of the House, and 
other Officers, by the Postmasters of Congress, 
the Public Documents, and the Committees of 
the two Houses. 

In regard to the Capitol Grounds we have only 
to say, that they are not only extensive, ))ut are 
kept in the very neatest order, constituting one 
of the very pleasantest and moat popular resorts 
for promenading to be found in the Metropolis. 
They command most charming prospects of the 
surrounding countr^^, are adorned with a great 
variety of American trees, fountains and basins 
of pure water enliven them in various parts, and 
an air of superior refinement is given to them, 
by a number of pieces of statuary, the most at- 
tractive specimens being a statue of Washington, 
by Greenough, and the figures of Columbus and 
an Indian Woman, by Persico, with his statues of 
Peace and War, the former o-ccupying the centre 
of a square east of the Capitol, and the others 
appropriate places on the eastern portico. Oa 
this side of the Capitol, moreover, is to be seeM 

4 



38 HAND-BOOK OF WASIIIXGTON. 

tlic lately completed colossal group of Statuary, 
called Civilization, executed by the lamented 
Crreenougli. It was finished iu 1851, and occu- 
pied the artist eight years, besides a delay of four 
years, occasioned by his not being able in all that 
time to obtain a blosk of Scrravezza marble suit- 
able to his purpose. It consists of four figure^, 
a mother and child, an American Indian and the 
father. The object of this group is to illustrate 
a phase in the progress of American Civilization, 
viz : the unavoidable conflict between the Anorlo- 
Saxon and aboriginal savage races. 

The group of statuary placed in the pediment 
of the portico on the east front of the north wing 
of the Capitol was designed by the late Mr. Craw- 
ford, the American sculptor. This statuary was 
executed on the Capitol grounds by artists em- 
ployed on the Capitol extension. 

The whole group represents '^ America as it 
Avas and as it is." Facing the statuary, that por- 
tion on the riofht of the central fiirure exhibits 
" America as it was;'' that on the left '^ America 
as it is." 

The central figure represents the Goddess of 
Liberty. The first figure to the right of her in 



i 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 39 

*' America as it was/' is the Backwoodsman, the 
pioneer of civilization j the second a boy a.nd his 
dog, returning from hunting ; the third an Indian 
chief, bowed in grief; the fourth an Indian 
mother with her babe, ignorant of the fate of its 
race 3 the fifth an Indian grave, ready to receive 
the remaining savages of the forest. The first 
figure to the left of her in '' America as it is," 
is a soldier in the Continental costume; the 
second a merchant of our day seated on a cotton 
bale; the third two youths ascending the hill of 
science ; ihe fourth a teacher and youth ; the 
fifth a mechanic; the sixth an anchor and sheaves 
of wheat. 



THE EXECUTIVE MANSION. 
The plan of this building was made by James 
Iloban, and the corner-stone was laid on the 13th 
of October, 1792; but having been partially de- 
stroyed during the last war, the same architect 
was employed to rebuild it in 1815. It is situated 
at the " west end" of the city, at the intersection 
of Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, and 
Vermont Avenues. It occupies the centre of a 
plat of ground containing twenty acres, and at 



40 HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

an elevation of forty-four feet above the waters 
of the Potomac. For several years past the 
grounds both in front and in the rear of the Presi- 
dent's House have been in a neglected condition, 
but under the management of competent persona 
the grounds l3^ng south of the Mansion are being 
transformed into a magnificent park, which when 
completed, will afford a fine carriage drive of 
three or four miles, the Potomac at one end, and 
the Capitol at the other ; the Smithsonian Insti- 
tute and the Washington Monument being situa- 
ted in its midst. Besides this, the same persons 
are planning the improvement of La Fayette and 
Franklin Squares into fine pleasure grounds. 
In the centre of La Fayette Square has been 
placed Mr. Mills' colossal equestrian statue of 
General Jackson. 

The Mansion in question is 170 feet front and 
86 deep, is built of white freestone with Ionic 
pilasters comprehending two lofty stories of rooms, 
crowned with a stone balustrade. The north 
front is ornamented with a lofty portico, of four 
Ionic columns in front, and projecting with three 
columns. The outer inter-columniation is for 
carriages to drive under, and place company under 
shelter : the middle space is for those visitors 
who come on foot ; the steps from both leading to 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 



41 



a broad platform In front of the door of entrance. 
The garden front is varied by having a rusticated 
basement story nnder the Ionic ordonnance, and 
by a semi-cireuLir projecting colonnade of six 
columns, Trith two flights of steps leading from 
the ground to the level of the principal story. 

The interior arrangements of the Executive 
Mansion are of course elegant and convenient, 
well adapted to the various purposes for which 
the building was designed ; and as the rooms, 
both public and private, are newly furnished with 
ihe coming in of every new Administration, we 
deem it unnecessary to trouble the reader with 
elaborate descriptions. All the public rooms may 
be examined by strangers at any time, but His 
Excellency the President can only be seen during 
those hours which he is pleased to designate. 
During the sessions of Congress the President 
usually has two reception evenings, on which 
occasions the public at large are privileged to pay 
him their respects and promenade the famous East 
Room. In addition to this it L generally ex- 
pected of him that during each w'ntcr he will 
entertain at dinner all the members of bulh Houses 
of Congress and the Diplomatic Corps, so that 
Dfficial dinners, have to be given by him as often 
IS twice a week. The grounds immediately 



42 HAND-COOK OF WASHINGTON. 

around the Mansion are quite beautiful in them 
selves, but they present a particularly fine nppear- 
ance clurino; those s-ummer afternoons when the 
citizens of Washington assemble there by hundreds 
and thousands for the purpose of enjoying the 
music of the Marine Band and the pleasures of a 
fashionable promenade. 

In the centre of the small square immediately 
in front of the President's House, stands a bronze 
statue of Thomas Jefferson, executed by whom 
we know not, but presented to the Grovernment 
by Capt. Levy of the United States Navy, the 
present proprietor of Monticello, the former abode 
of Mr. Jefferson. It is a handsome piece of 
statuary, and in its present position has quite a 
commanding appearance. A resolution of accep- 
tance however, was never passed by Congress, so 
that this statue may be considered as still the pri- 
vate property of Capt. Levy. Directly across 
Pennsylvania Avenue from the above mentioned 
square, is La Fayette Square, which, as before 
intimated, has recently been laid out in fashiona- 
ble style, and planted with new shrubbery. Mills' 
Equestrian Statue of General Jackson, occupies 
its centre, and is a work of superior merit. It is in 
bronze, and was cast from certain cannon captured 
by General Jackson in some of his military en- 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 48 

g^gements. The cost of this statue was $50,000, 
and a duplicate was ordered to be executed for 
the city of New Orleans, which commission has 
been duly executed by the successful artist. 



THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS. 

The number of these is seven, and their official 
titles are as follows: the Department of State, 
the Treasury Department, the Yv^ar Department, 
the Navy Department, Department of the Interior, 
the Post Office Department, and the office of the 
Attorney General. 

The State Department, which stands north- 
east of the President's House and within the same 
enclosure, is a plain brick building, two stories 
high, 160 feet long and 55 wide, with a broad 
passage on both floors, and containing in all 3l^ 
rooms. It contains a handsome library of books, 
maps and charts, numbering perhaps some 15,- 
000 distinct works, which are indispensable in 
the performance of the extensive and varied duties 
of the department. In addition to this collection, 
the Copyright Bureau contains some 10 or 12,000 
volumes published in this country, which are kept 
with care as part and parcel of the archives of tho 



44 HAND-BOOK OF WASFilNGTON. 

Government, The total number of persons em- 
ployed in this Department consist of the Secretary, 
nineteen clerks, two messengers, and five watch- 
men. It is the department through which alone 
the diplomatic corps and all foreigners can hold 
any intercourse with the Government of the United 
States, and is of course the head-quarters of all 
the American Ministers and Consuls. And in 
this place it may be well to mention the countries 
which were represented in Washington at the 
commencement of the present year by accredited 
ministers, which were as follows: Kussia, Argen- 
tine Republic, Spain, Chili, Mexico, Brazil. Great 
Britain, France, Portugal, Prussia, Denmark, 
Austria, Netherlands, the two Sicilies and Parma, 
Sardinia, Belgium, Chili and Peru. With regard 
to American Ministers and Consuls, it were enough 
to sa}', that they may be found scattered to the 
four corners of the earth, in every place where 
they would be likely to do good. In this depart- 
ment are deposited all our Treaties with foreign 
powers, the original of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, the commissions given to General Wash- 
ington with many of his most interesting letters, 
and also one of the most complete files of news 
papers to be found in the country, all of whicb 



^^'^-^. v-= - 




HAND-EOOK OF WASHINGTON. 46 

may be examined by strangers, on application, 
during office hours. 

The Treasury Department stands at the east- 
ern extremity of the President's Square, (so 
called j and is a stone edifice, painted white, 340 
feet long and 170 wide, but when the northern 
and southern wings are added it will be 457 feet 
in length. In front is an imposing colonnade, 
stretching the entire length of the building, and 
the architect of the whole was Robert Mills. It 
has three floors upon which business is transacted, 
on each of which are nearly fifty apartments. 
This is the department where all the financial and 
commercial affairs of the country are attended to, 
and the amount of labor performed here at times 
is immense. The persons employed in this de- 
partment are the Secretary, one Assistant Secre- 
tary, two Comptrollers, six Auditors, two Trea- 
surers, one Register, one Solicitor, one Commis- 
sioner of Customs, about three hundred clerks, 
fifteen messengers, and twelve watchmen. A 
good legal library is attached to this department. 
An extensive addition to this already large build- 
ing is now in course of erection, and it is only to 
be regretted that such a costly and imposing 
building should not have attached to it appropri- 
ate grounds. 



46 UAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

Tho War Department building occupies the 
north-west corner of the President's Square, and 
is precisely simik-r in design to the State Depart- 
ment. It is the head-quarters of all the officers 
of the Arni}^ and the main-spring of all the 
military movements. This department comprises 
in its economy the War Office proper, the Quar- 
termaster's Department, the Engineer's Depart 
ment, Bureau of Topographical Engineers, Ord- 
nance Office, Subsistence Department, Pay De- 
partment, Medical Department, Office of xVdjutant 
General and the head-quarters of the Major Gene- 
ral or military Commander-in-Chief of the Army. 
The number of persons employed in this depart- 
ment exclusive of the Secretary and Officers of 
the Army is as follows: — clerks, 92 ; messengers, 
10; and watchmen, 5. Besides the many ac- 
complished and distinguished officers connected 
with the departments already mentioned, are those 
also employed in the field, belonging to the 1st 
and 2d Regiments of Dragoons, to the Regiment 
of Mounted Riflemen, to the 1st, 2d, 3d and 4th 
Regiments of Artillery, and to the 8th Regiment 
of Infantry. The War Department is furnished 
with a valuable library of some 10,000 volumes, 
where may be seen, by the curious in such mat- 
ters, an interesting collection of American medals 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 47 

and a, great number of war tropliies from the 
battle fields of the Revolution, of the last war and 
of Mexico. 

- The Navy Department building lies directly 
west of the President's House, and in the rear 
of the War Department. It has five Bureaus, 
exclusive of the Secretary's office, viz : — Bureau 
of Navy Yards and Docks, Bureau of Construc- 
tion, Equipment and Repair; Bureau of Pro- 
visions and Clothing;, Bureau of Ordnance and 
Hydrography, and Bureau of Medicine and Sur- 
gery. Besides the Secretary, the persons em- 
ployed in them, are forty-two clerks, and seven 
messengers. Scattered throughout this depart- 
ment are to be seen authentic portraits of many 
of our naval heroes, also a collection of medals 
struck to their honor at different times, together 
with a lars^e collection of national flags and other 
trophies which have fallen from time to time into 
the possession of our commodores. 

The Department of the Interior, or Home 
Department is the most extensive connected with 
the Government. The building which it occupies 
is one of the most extensive and most interesting 
in the Metropolis. A portion of it is occupied by 
the Patent ofRce, and also by the museum of the 
National Institute. The titles of the Bureaus 



48 HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

connected with the Interior Department are as 
follows: — Land office, Patent office, Indian offi/je 
and Pension office. Exclusive of the Secretary 
aad the Heads of the Bureaus, the persons employ- 
ed are clerks, about one hundred and fifty, messeu- 
gers and watchmen, about twenty-five. As its 
name indicates, this department has to do exclu- 
sively with all those matters bearing upon the 
internal economy of the United States, and is of 
course increasing in importance with every suc- 
cessive year. A library of some five thousand 
volumes is attached to this Department. In the 
second story of the building now occupied by the 
Patent office are the invaluable relics of Wash- 
ington, including his camp chest, the original 
Declaration of Independence, the gifts presented 
from time to time to the Government by foreign 
powers, Franklin's printing press, a collection of 
Indian portraits by King, the treasures of the 
National Institute, interesting memorials of the 
late James Smithson, and the extensive and rare 
treasures secured by the U. S. Exploring Expe- 
dition under Capt, Wilkes, in almost every de- 
(AU removed to the Smithsonian Institution.) 
Everything here is open to the inspection of the 
public, and the Hall is one of the most interest-* 
ing for the stranger to visit, to be found in t})0 



I 




I 



o 



C/5 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 49 

Metropolis. In the first story of the same build- 
ing are collected all the models of the machines 
which have been patented since the foundation of 
the Government. From the Patent office have 
emanated a number of interesting documents 
bearing directly upon the mechanical and agricul- 
tural interests of the country, and a large quantity 
of seeds, domestic and foreign, are annually dis- 
tributed gratis to all persons who choose to profit 
by the liberality of the Government. 

One of the handsomest buildings in Washing- 
ton is that occupied by the Post Office Depart- 
ment. It was designed and built by Mr. Mills, 
of white marble and after the Corinthian order. 
It is three stories high, two hundred and four 
feet long, and one hundred and two deep : it con- 
tains twenty-seven rooms on each floor, making 
eighty-one in all. It occupies a central position 
in the city, near the Department of the Interior, 
both of which are about half a mile from the 
President's Square and the other departments. 
The employees are a Postmaster-General, three 
assistants, fifty clerks and six messengers. Con- 
nected with this department is the Dead Letter 
office which is an interesting place to visit. 
The number of unclaimed letters annually sent 

here is enormous. All the letters received are 
5 



50 HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON . 

opened by the clerks, and only read when found 
to contain money or other valuables, after which 
they are all consumed. 

The city Post Office is an unpretending build- 
ing adjoining the Greneral Post Office on seventh 
street. 

With regard to the Office of the Attorney 
General, which we have classed with the Exec- 
utive branches of the Government, we have only 
to say that it derives its chief attraction from 
the person who may occupy it, who must be of 
necessity, a man of distinguished ability. Rooms 
are assigned to him in the Treasury building, and 
it is to him that all knotty questions, in all the 
departments, are submitted for final settlement. 
Within a few years past the power to appoint all 
marshals and district attorneys has been transferred 
from the Department of State to this office. 



THE NATIONAL OBSERVATORY. 

The National Observatory is situated on the 
banks of the Potomac, in an oblique direction 
from the President's House, towards Georgetown 
The site is a beautiful one, having a commanding 
view of Washington and Georgetown, of the 




I ! 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 51 

Potomac River, and surrounding country, as far 
down as fort Washington, opposite to Mount 
Vernon. 

It is a Naval Institution under the control and 
management of Captain J. M. Gilliss, U. S. 
N. The force employed at it consists principally 
of Naval Officers. 

Besides the Astronomical duties of the estab- 
lishment, here are kept all the nautical books, 
cliarts and instruments belonging to the Navy. 

The apartment in which the Chronometers are 
kept is a very interesting one. Before one of 
these instruments is purchased by Government, 
it is required to be put on trial by the Superinten- 
dent of the Observatory, for one year ; during 
which period it is compared daily with the Grreat 
Astronomical Clock of the Observatory, which 
regulates the time for the whole City. The tem- 
perature of the room in which it is kept is also 
carefully observed, and recorded every day. The 
test is a severe one, and in case the instrument 
fails to come up to it, it is returned to the maker 
at the end of the year. 

The observations on the temperature in con- 
Qexion with the performance of the Chronometer, 
enable the maker to improve the instrument, and 



52 HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

on a second trial of another year it rarely fails 
to pass. 

There are from 60 to 100 Chronometers al- 
ways in this room, all of which are daily wound, 
and compared and treated in the manner described. 
Thus a complete and minute history is kept of 
each one. 

Here also are conducted the celebrated re- 
Bearches connected with the "Wind and Current 
Charts;" the liabits of the Whale, and a variety 
of phenomena connected with the great deep. 

The National Observatory of Washington oc- 
cupies a high rank among the Observatories in 
the world, there being but one — that of Russia 
— superior to it. 

The largest telescope, called the Equatorial, is 
a 14 feet Refractor, with an object glass of 9 
inches. It is mounted in the revolving dome on 
the top of the main building, and is so arranged 
with clock work and Machinery, that being di- 
rected to a star in the morning, it may be left 
alone, when on returning to it in the evening, it 
will have followed the path of the star so exactly, 
that it will be found still pointing to the star, and 
the star will be visible through it. With its 
powers the stars are visible at mid-day. 

In one room below are the Meridian and Mural 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 53 

Circles. In another, the Transit instrument ; in 
anoth-er, the Prime Vertical Instrument ; and in 
another yet, the Great Refraction Circle invented 
by the Superintendent. It was made by Ertel & 
Son, Munich, and taken altogether is, perhaps, 
one of the finest instruments any where to be 
found. Such is the delicacy of its construction, 
and such the accuracy of its adjustments, and the 
nicety of its performance, that the heat of the 
observer's person, as he approaches it to make an 
observation, is found to be one of its principal 
sources of error. 

But perhaps the most wonderful object at this 
interesting Establishment is the Electro-Chrono- 
graph, invented by Dr. Locke, of Cincinnati. 

It is in the room with the Transit Instrument, 
and is so arranged, by its connexion with an electri- 
cal battery in the building, that its ticks may be 
heard in any part of the country to which the 
magnetic wires lead, provided they be put in con- 
nexion with it. Thus it may be made of itself 
to record the time, and in such a manner, that 
the astronomer in Boston, New Orleans or else- 
where will know it, and tell the time of day by 
this clock, as well as one who stands before it 
and reads the hands on its face. 

The Observatory regulates the time for "Wash- 



5-4 HAND-BOOK OF WASniNGTON. 

ingtoQ and Georgetown by the falling of a ball. 
At ten minutes before mean noon every day, a 
large black ball is hoisted to a flag staff, standing 
on the top of the dome. This is to give warning 
for those who wish to get the exact time of day 
to look out. Precisely at twelve, the ball drops. 
Thus the whole City is informed of the exact time. 

John Q. Adams, w^ho was a devoted friend of 
the Observatory, and who used to visit it fre- 
quently in the last days of his life, has been known 
to walk all the way up to the Observatory from his 
lodgings, to see the ball fall. 

The Office hours at this Establishment are from 
9 A. M, to 3 P. M. — within those hours, visitors 
will always find an officer ready to receive them 
and to show them every attention that politeness 
can bestow. 



THE WASHINGTON ARSENAL. 

The Arsenal occupies a fine position on the 
extreme southern point of the City, (called Green- 
leaf's Point,) at the junction of the Eastern 
Branch with the Potomac, commanding a beau- 
tiful and extensive view, over a broad expanse 
of water, towards the Cities of Washington an.] 



w^ 






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HAND-BOOK OF WASHINQTON. 55 

Georgetown on the North and Alexandria on the 
South. The channels of both rivers running 
near the Arsenal shore, afford all requisite facili- 
ties for receiving and shipping Ordnance and 
ot]ier Military Stores. 

Although this site was originally reserved for 
the purpose of an Arsenal, it was not occupied 
by any building of importance until after the 
peace of 1814, when the building of the present 
establishment was commenced under the direc- 
tion of the late Col. Grcorge Bomford. From 
the small square embraced in the first plan the 
buildings have been gradually extended until 
they occupy nearly the whole reservation, and 
form one of the principal Arsenals of Construc- 
tion in the United States. 

The work-shops contain much useful and inge- 
nious Machinery, propelled by Steam, for manu- 
facturing Grun Carriages and Equipments for Ar- 
tillery, and for preparing ammunition of all kinds. 
Among these may be noticed particularly the 
Machines for planing and boring iron and wood, 
those for tenoning and mortising the spokes and 
hubs of wheels. Blanchard's ingenious lathe for 
turning irregular forms in wood, such as spokes, 
axe handlesr, &c. , the machinery for making leaden 
Bullets by pressing them out of the bar lead 



56 HAND-BOOK OF V7ASHINGT0N. 

instead of casting them ; and above all, the beau- 
tiful machine for making and charging Percussion 
Caps, for small arms, invented by Mr. George 
Wright, a workman at the Arsenal. By this last 
mentioned machine, a sheet of Copper being in- 
serted on one side and some percussion powder 
put in a hopper on the other, the finished Caps 
are produced without any further agency of the 
workman 

In the spacious Storehouses of the Arsenal are 
to be seen Arms and Equipments for the troops ; 
also a large number of Gun Carriages and other 
apparatus for the service of the Artillery in the 
forts and in the field, from the ponderous Colum- 
biad for the defence of the coast, to the little 
mountain howitzer, which may be transported, 
with its miniature smith's forge, on the back of a 
mule. 

The Model Office contains a collection of 
models or patterns of the various arms and military 
Equipments used in our Service, and also of such 
of those used in the Armies of other nations as 
have been obtained by the Ordnance Department. 
Here may also be seen some specimens of old anj 
new inventions, repeating Arms, Revolvers, &c., 
which have been suggested, at home or abroad, 
by the organ of destructiveness. 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 57 

In the Gun lot are arranged many pieces of 
Ordnance and piles of Balls, mostly of heavy 
calibre for the armament of the forts. 

In front of th.3 old Arsenal Square a small col- 
lection of foreign Brass Cannon will attract tlie 
notice of the visitor, who will perceive by the in- 
scriptions that some of them are trophies of the 
Gucc.ess of our Arms at Saratoga, Yorktown, 
Niagara, and Vera Cruz, The Guns and Car- 
riages of Duncan's Field Battery, which performed 
distinguished service on nearly every field of battle 
in the Mexican War, are likewise preserved at 
the Arsenal, as a saluting battery. 

On the West side of the Arsenal Grrounds, near 
the river, are two pyranvdal structures which 
often attract the curiosity of visitors and of persons 
passing by the Arsenal. These buildings contain 
an apparatus called a Ballistic Pendulum, which 
is used for testing the force of Gunpowder when 
fired in heavy Ordnance, and also for trying many 
other interesting experim-ents in Gunnery, 



68 HAND-BQOK OF WASHINGTON. 

THE NAVY YARD. 

The Navy Yard is situated on the Ea&torn 
Brancli or " Anacostia," a branch of the Potomac 
river, at the southern termination of Eighth street, 
East. It was established in the year 1800, on the 
public reservation No, 14, to which Squares No. 
883 and 884 were subsequently added. Commo- 
dore Tingey was ordered to the command, and to 
him was assigned the duty of superintending the 
construction of the several vessels ordered to bo 
built here, and also the general arrangement of 
the grounds, with a view to furnishing increased 
accommodation for the future construction and 
equipment of large Ships of War. 

Tke area covers about twenty acres, and is en- 
closed by a substantial brick wall, having a prin- 
cipal entrance at the foot of Eighth street, through 
a handsome arched gateway, designed by the late 
celebrated architect, Benjamin H. Latrobe, Esq. 

Several comfortable residences have been erect- 
ed for the accommodation of the Commodore, the 
Executive officer, the first Lieutenant, Surgeon, 
Sailing-master, Boatswain and Gunner, whose 
official duties require their constant attendance iu 
the Yard. 

The mechanical operations of this Establish- 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 59 

mcnt are various and extensive, and the skill of 
the workmen and the excellence of the materials 
employed have been satisfactorily tested in every 
sea. Anchors of all sizes, for the Naval service, 
are manufactured by the use of two heavy steam- 
hammers, (termed the ''Nasmyth Hammer,") one 
of which weighs 3,600 pounds, the other 2,240 
pounds. The forges for this work are kept in 
blast by a fan blower attached to the steam engine 
in the Machinist's department. There is also in 
operation, in the Anchor department, a Direct- 
Action Steam-hammer (called the ' ' Kirk Ham- 
mer,") in connexion with a blast furnace for work- 
ing up, into blooms and bars, all the scrap iron 
of the Navy. The massive chain cables, are 
made in another Shop, which is provided with a 
powerful Hydrostatic Press for testing their 
strength. These cables are highly esteemed for 
their superior finish, great strength and durability. 
From sixty to eighty men are ordinarily employed 
in this department. 

Another department is engaged in the manu- 
facture of Galleys, Cabooses, and copper Powder- 
tanks, and of the various kinds of brass work 
appertaining to Ships of War. The dijfferent 
machines employed in making these articles, are 
driven by a Steam Engine of about fifteen horse 



60 HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

power. A Brass Foundry is connected w'ib tliis 
range of buildings, on the eastern side of the 
Yard. 

A large and extensive Iron Foundry has re- 
riently been erected, of sufficient capacity and 
with the necessary facilities for moulding and cast- 
ing the heaviest work ; connected with thus foundry 
are the machines for boring, turning and planing 
the Steam Cylinders and other massive machinery 
required for the Naval Service. Adjoining the 
Iron Foundry are the Ordnance and Boiler-mak- 
ing departments, which are provided with a Steam 
Engine of about twelve horse power. The Ord- 
nance department is engaged in the fabrication 
of lisrht brass Ordnance, Howitzers for boat and 
land service, of Shot and Shells, Percussion Caps, 
Musket and Pistol Balls, &c. Some of this ma- 
chinery is very ingenious and highly interesting. 
The Boiler Shop contains all the machinery neces- 
Siiry for the construction of Boilers. 

Close by this range of buildings, is a very ex- 
tensive Machine Shop, in which are placed all 
the tools required in the manufacture of Steam 
Enginso and machinery of every description. 
"When completed it will afford room for the em- 
ployment of from one hundred and fifty to two 
hurdr'v* ?*rorl<iBen. Attached to this Sho^ i? aa 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 



61 



engine of sixty horse power, which also gives 
motion to the Blockmaking machinery and to the 
Fan-blowers of the Anchor-making department. 

On the Western side of the Yard is the Pyro- 
technical Laboratory, in which are prepared all 
the articles for the Navy appropriate to this de- 
partment. 

A Rolling Mill is also here which is furnished 
with an engine of two hundred horse power, to- 
gether with the necessary machinery for manufac- 
turing all the bolt, sheathing, brazier's and boiler 
copper for the use of the Navy ; also, a Rolling 
apparatus, &c., for working up the bloom iron, 
made by "Kirk's Faggoting Hammer," into bolts 
and bar iron 

There are two large Ship Houses, for building 
Ships, under one of which is about to be con- 
structed a Marine Railway for hauling up steam- 
ers, for repair. 

In the Yard there are ordinarily employed from 
four hundred to four hundred and fifty Mechanics 
and laborers, but since the keel of the frigate 
Minesota was laid the workmen employed in the 
yard have averaged about twelve hundred. The 
grounds are beautifully laid out ; the avenues 
shaded with fine trees; the plats neatly enclosed, 
and the whole preserved in handsome order. 



62 JIAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 



THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 

This Institution was founded upon a bequest 
of more than half a million of dollars, made to 
the United States by an Englishman named James 
Smithson, a man of good family, and of sufficient 
learning to have published in the Transactio^is 
of the Royal Society and other Journals no less 
than twenty-four scientific treatises, the majority 
of which were on Mineral Chemistry. The object 
of the bequest, according to his will, was "To 
found at Washington, under the name of the 
Smithsonian Institution, an Establishment for the 
increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." 
On the 1st of July, 1836, Congress solemnly 
accepted this important trust, and the money was 
paid into the Treasury of the United States in 
1838. The Act of Congress establishing the 
Institution as it now exists, was passed in 1846. 
By this Act, the President, Vice President, all 
the Members of the Cabinet, the Chief Justice, 
the Commissioner of the Patent Office and the 
Mayor of Washington, during the time for which 
they should hold their offices, were made the per- 
sonnel of the Institution ; and they are to be 
assisted by a Board of Regents, who were to be 



•i (• 



O 
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C/5 

■H 
d 



^:^ ksn '^^'* 







HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 63 

empowered to elect a Chancellor, a Secretary^ 
and an Executive Committee, 

The Institution is situated on the Mall below 
the Capitol, and though the edifice is yet in an 
unfinished state, it presents a noble appearance, 
and is unquestionably one of the great attractions 
of the Metropolis. The style of the Architecture 
is the Komanesque, the material a reddish free- 
stone of fine gra'in, its extreme length is four 
hundred and fifty feet, its width one hundred and 
forty feet, and it has nine towers varying in height 
from seventy-five to one hundred and fifty feet. 
The grounds which surround it are very extensive, 
and are now in progress of being beautified by 
Mr. Downing. 

The Secretary of the Institution is Professor 
Joseph Henry, who has the reputation of being 
one of the most accomplished scientific men of the 
age, and the property of the Institution and its 
general operations are in his charge, and among 
his assistants are several gentlemen of high scien- 
tific and literary acquirements. 

To describe minutely the interior economy of 
this important establishment is not our intention 
in this place. We can only say that its beneficial 
influence upon the world at large has already 
been felt ; it has already printed and circulated a 



6i 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 



number of valuable volumes, acquired collections 
in the way of natural history and scientific as well 
as general literature which are very valuable and 
very interesting, and engaged distinguished men 
to deliver lectures. The great library room when 
completed will be capable of holding one hundred 
thousand volum"es. The building is supplied with 
a lecture room, which will seat twelve hundred 
persons; audits Museum, when completed, will 
be two hundred feet long, and filled with the 
wonders of nature and art from all parts of the 
world ; its rooms for Chemical experiments will 
be more spacious and convenient than any to be 
found in the country : and in the western wing 
which is one hundred and twenty feet long, will 
hereafter be located a gallery of Art. The col- 
lection of Indian pictures now on exhibition there 
is the property of "Sir. Stanley the artist. 



THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT. 

As this Structure is not yet finished, we will 
not describe it as it is, but as it will be when com- 
pleted, according to the design adopted by the 
Board of Managers. It stands on the Mall, be- 
tween the President's House and the Potomac, 






l-^ 




Vv'ASHiNGTON MONUMENT. 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 65 

and embraces the idea of a grand circular colon- 
naded building two hundred and fifty feet in 
diameter, one hundred feet high, from which 
springs an obelisk shaft seventy feet in diameter 
at the base and five hundred feet high, making a 
total elevation of six hundred feet. 

The vast rotundo, forming the grand base of 
the Monument, will be surrounded by thirty col- 
umns of massive proportions, twelve feet in diam- 
eter and forty-five feet high, elevated upon a base 
of twenty feet in height and three hundred feet 
square, surmounted by an entablature twenty feet 
high, and crowned by a massive balustrade fifteen 
feet in height. The terrace outside the colonnade 
will be twenty-five feet wide, and the walk within 
the colonnade twenty-five feet. The front portico 
will be adorned with a triumphal car and Statue 
of the Illustrious Chief; and over each column 
around the entire building will be sculptured es- 
cutcheons, coats of arms of each State of the 
Union, surrounded by bronze civic wreaths, band- 
ed together by festoons of oak leaves, while the 
centre of the portico will be emblazoned with the 
coat of arms of the United States. Around the 
rotundo will be stationed statues of the Signers 
of the Declaration of Independence : in niches 
prepared for the purpose, statues of the Fathers 



66 UAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

of the Revolution contemporary with Washington ; 
and directly opposite to the entrance will be placed 
a statue of Washington himself. The interior 
of the shaft will be embellished with a great va- 
riety of inscriptions ; at one point it will be orna- 
mented with four of the leading events of Wash- 
ington's career sculptured in basso relievo, above 
which will be placed a single star, emblematic of 
the glory which the name of Washington has at- 
tained ; and in the centre of the Monument will 
be placed the Tomb of the Father of his country. 



THE NATIONAL MEDICAL COLLEGE. 

The National Medical College, instituted in 
1S23, is now in successful operation. It was 
until a few years past known as the medical de- 
partment of the Columbian College, from which 
institution it derives its authority to confer Degrees 
under an act of incorporation from the Congress 
of the United States. 

In assuming its present name it was newly or- 
ganized, and its facilities for instruction greatly 
extended. 

It IS situated at No. 453 14th street, between 
F and Gr streets. 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 67 

THE COLUMBIAN COLLEGE. 

This Institution, which was incorporated in 
1821, is beautifully situated on an eminence, 
adjoining the City Corporation on the North, and 
on 14th street West. It is a fine brick edifice, 
four stories high, and overlooks the City, Capitol, 
and other Public Buildings ; and commands a 
fine view of the Potomac, with the surrounding 
country, for many miles in extent. In beauty 
and healthfulness of position, it is unsurpassed ; 
and its local advantages are such as no other 
situation in the country can afford. 

Its proximity to the National Metropolis gives 
to young men the opportunity of observing dis- 
tinguished public characters ; of becoming ac- 
•^uainted with the nature and operations of our 
Government; and of witnessing the highest ex- 
hibitions of talent, in the halls of Congress, and 
in the Supreme Court of the U. States. This is 
a great advantage, especially to those who are 
destined to public life; and its practical effects 
are seen, in the number of its Alumni who are 
now filling important and useful stations in society. 

The College has a good Library, a valuable 
Philosophical Apparatus, and other means and 
facilities for pursuing a thorough and liberal course 



68 HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTOw. 

of studies. It embraces a President, and twelve 
Professors and Teachers — including those of the 
National Medical College, which is under the 
sanae Corporation. The number of students are 
annually on the increase. 



THE MILITARY ASYLUM. 

The worthy establishment known by this name 
occupies a commanding hill on the northern limits 
of the city, and is a comfortable home for dis- 
abled soldiers and sailors. The buildings are all 
that could be desired for such an institution, and 
so are the adjoininuj lands, the whole of which was 
purchased and then sold to the Government by 
the well known banker, George W. Riggs, Esq. 
The drives leading to this retreat are amongst the 
most agreeable in the District, and upon one of 
them, is the former country seat of the late and 
univereally admired Joseph Gales, Esq., the able 
editor of the National Intelligencer. After Con- 
gress had appropriated the money for founding 
the Military Asylum, the honor of selecting the 
site was awarded to General Scott, so that the 



> 

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HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 69 

citizens of Washington are indebted to him for 
gathering within the limits of the Metropolis the 
remnants of our military glory. 



THE COAST SURVEY OFFICE. 

The buildings occupied for the uses of the 
United States Coast Survey are situated on the 
West side of New Jersey Avenue, about a sixth 
of a mile from the Capitol. They consist of 
four old houses, in a block, presenting a deci- 
dedly rusty exterior, and in no way looking like 
public buildings. 

The room of the Superintendent, Prof. A. D. 
Bache, is at the North end, and that of the As- 
sistant in charge of the Office is at the South end. 
Great progress has been made in an accurate 
survey of a large extent of the principal waters 
in this country, including our coasts, on both the 
Atlantic and Pacii&c oceans, and in no branch of 
the government has there been displayed greater 
scientific ability. The maps and charts of this 
office have been of inestimable value to our 
Navy in the present rebellion. Moit of the 
rooms in the upper stories are appropriated 
to computers, draughtsmen and engravers. The 



70 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 



fire proof building South of the office, contains 
the Archives, or Records of Observations, the 
Library, the Standard Weights, Balances and 
Measures, the Instruments not in use, and the 
engraved copper plates. 

The Office proper includes all the Departments 
necessary for working up the materials, both as- 
tronomical, tof>ographical, and hydrographic, sent 
in by the various observers. All these are under 
the general direction of the Assistant in charge, 
and under the special direction of their particular 
heads. The Departments are those for Compu- 
ting, Drawing, Engraving, Electro typing, Print- 
ing, Publishing, Instrument making, and Ar- 
3hives. When the computations are completed, 
the materials of the plane table and hydrographic 
sheets are worked up in the Drawing Department, 
for the Engravers. The engraved copper-plates 
are electrotyped, and the printing is done mainly 
from these, the originals being preserved. The 
printed sheets are distributed for sale to agents 
in the principal cities. 

The Coast Survey Office, being essentially an 
office for work, presents but scanty attractions for 
visitors. Persons wishing to examine any of the 
methods '^r processes employed, or desiring iu- 



UAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON- 71 

formation about matters of the Survey, sKould 
apply to the Assistant in charge. 

As the construction of Standard Weights and 
Measures is carried on in the same buildings with 
the Coast Survey Works, and is under the same 
Superintendent, it ought to be mentioned that a 
visit to this department will greatly interest the 
visitor. Here may not only be seen much in the 
way of curious scientific operations but also a 
finished set of Standard Weights, Balances, and 
Measures, such as are furnished to the States and 
Custom Houses of the Union. The Assistant and 
Foreman of the department of Weights and Mea- 
sures is Mr. J. Saxton, who always takes pleasure 
in treating strangers with politeness and atten-tion. 
The gentleman under whose superintendence all 
the complicated affairs of the Coast Survey are 
carried on, is Prof. A. D. Bache, whose reputa- 
tion as a man of science is co-extensive with the 
civilized world. He is assisted In his arduous 
duties by some thirty-five assistants and quite a 
large number of Navy Officers; and it is a re- 
markable circumstance that the Superintendent 
has lost two brothers, both of whom were officers 
of the Navy, but employed upon the Coast Sur- 
vey, — one of them having perished in the waters 
of Pacific, and the other in those of the Atlantic. 



72 HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON, 



THE NATIONAL CEMETERY. 

The National or Congressional Burial Ground 
is situated about one mile east of the Capitol, 
embraces about ten acres, commands an extensive 
view of the country, is well enclosed with, a brick 
wall, laid out with taste, and beautified with trees 
and shrubbery. It was located in 1807, and ever 
since been in the keeping of an incorporated 
company. The Monuments are manifold and 
many of them beautiful ; and in addition to sev- 
eral private vaults is one spacious and well con- 
structed, enclosed by a neat railing, built by the 
order and at the expense of Congress, as a place 
of deposite, for the dead whose remains it may 
be the purj>ose of friends subsequently to remove. 

Measures have recently been adopted to en- 
large this Cemetery, and some twenty additional 
acres will soon be brought within its limits. The 
number of interments which have taken place up 
to the present time is six thousand, 

A visit to the "City of the Dead" cannot but 
prove interesting to the stranger visiting the Me- 
tropolis, and among the few and picturesque 
monuments which will attract his attention, are 
ihose to the memory of George Clinton, Elbridge 



HAND-BOOK OP WASHINGTON. 73 

Grerry, Major General Jacob Brown, Joseph 
Lovel, Commodore Eogers' son, A. P. Upsher, 
Commodore Beverly Kennon, Lieut. Gr. M. Bache, 
Capt. B. A. Terrett, the wife of Peter von Schmidt, 
Judge Pendleton Barbour, and Peter Lenof. 
Quite a large number of JMembers of Congress 
have been buried here, and there is a mournful 
interest in wandering among the monuments which 
commemorate their names. 

"Glenwood Cemetery" is the name of another 
Cemetery which has recently been laid out by 
the citizens of Washington. It contains 90 acres 
at a cost of ^10,000, and lies li miles north of 
the Capitol, the most direct way to it being by 
north Capitol street. Thirty acres are now pre- 
pared for interments, and a handsome framed lodge 
or gateway has been built, the front of which, is 
ornamented with figures of Time, Penitence, and 
Love. A large and beautiful mausoleum also, 
capable of containing 100 bodies has been erected 
at a cost of not less than ^10,000. Its serpen- 
tine walks extend about four railes, and the sum 
of $35,000 has already been expended in beau- 
tifying the spot. 
1 



74 HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 



THE CITY HALL. 

This large and handsome edifice, the official 
home of the City Fathers, was commenced in 
1820 and finished in 1850, it having remained a 
kind of ruin during most of the intervening time. 
It occupies a commanding position on Judiciary 
Square, is 200 feet in length, and after the stucco 
style of architecture. The Circuit and Criminal 
Courts hold their sessions in this hall ; also the 
members of the City Councils. The Mayor has 
his office here, and so also have a large number 
of the city attorneys. 

In this connection it may be well for us to give 
the Judiciary of Washington, which is as follows: 

Supreme Court for the District of Columbia, 
which is a court of general jurisdiction, civil, 
criminal, and admiralty. It is composed of four 
judges. 

Levy Court of Washington County meets on 
on the first Monday of each month. A president 
presides. 

Orphans' Court meets in west wing on cecond 
floor. It has one judge. 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 75 

THE CHURCHES OF WASHINGTON. 

The Metropolis is well supplied with Churches, 
and considering its extent is quite as well supplied 
with eloquent preachers as any city in the Union. 
Baptist. 

First Baptist Church — Thirteenth west, between G 
and H north. 

E Street Baptist — E street north, between Sixth 
and Seventh west. 

Second Baptist Church (Navy-Yard) — Virginia ave- 
nue, corner Fourth east. 

Fifth Baptist Church — D south, Four-and-a-Half 
west. 

Calvary Baptist — Old Trinity Church, Fifth street, 
opposite City Hall. 

Catholic. 

St. AIo3-sius — North Capitol, between I and K north. 

St. Dominick's (Island) — F south, between Sixth and 
Seventh west. 

St. Mary's (German)— 372 Fifth west, bet. G & H, 
north. 

St. Matthew's — II north, corner Fifteenth west. 

St. Patrick's — F north, corner Tenth w^est. 

St. Peter's — C south, corner Second east. 
Episcopal. 

Christ Church (Navy-Yard) — G south, between 
Sixth and Seventh east. 

Church of the Ascension — Til north, between Ninth 
and Tenth west. 



76 HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

Church of the Epiphany — G north, between Thir- 
teenth and Fourteenth. 

Grace Church (Island) — D south, between Eighth 
and Nintli west. 

St. John's Church — Opposite the Executive Man- 
sion. 

Trinity Church — corner Tliird west and C north. 

Trinity Mission — Sixth west, corner II north. 

Friends' Meeting Houses. 

Hicksite — I north, between Eighteenth and Nine- 
teenth west. 

^ Orthodox Friends' Meeting — 412 K, north between 
ninth and tenth west 

Jews' Synagogue. 

Washington Hebrew Congregation — Eighth west, 
between H and I north. 

Lutheran. 

Qerman Evangelical — Congregation of the Trinity 
Unaltered Augsburg Confession, Fourth west, corner 
E north. 

German Evangelical — G north, corner Twentieth 
west. 

St. Paul's — H north, corner Eleventh west. 

Methodist Episcopal- 
East Washington Station — Fourth east, between G 
south and South Carolina avenue. 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 77 

Fletcher Chapel — New York avenue, corner Fourth 
west. I 

Foundry Church — G north, corner Fourteenth west. 

Gorsuch Chapel — L south, corner Four-and-a-Halr 
west. 

McKendree Chapel — Massachusetts avenue, between 
Ninth and Tenth west. 

Providence Church — Second east, corner I north. 

Ryland Chapel (Island) — Tenth west, corner D south. 

Union Chapel — Twentieth west, near Pennsylvania 
avenue. 

Waugii Chapel — A north, corner Fourth east. 

Wesley Chapel — Fifth west, corner F north. 

Methodist Protestant. 

East Washington — Virginia avenue, Fifth east. 

M. P. Church — Ninth west, between E and F north. 

New Jerusalem. 

North Capitol, between B and C. 

Presbyterian. 

First Presbyterian Church — Four-and-a-Half west, 
between C and Louisiana avenue. 

New York Avenue Presbyterian Church — New York 
avenue, between Thirteenth and Fourteenth west. 

Fourth Presbyterian Church — Ninth west, between 
G and H north. 

Assembly's Church — I street, corner Fifth west. 

Sixth Presbyterian Church — Sixth west, corner Ma- 
ryland avenue, (Island.) 



78 HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

Seventh Presbyterian Church — Sevcntli west, be- 
tween D and E south. 

Western Presbyterian — II north, between Nineteenth 
and Twentieth west. 

Heformed German. 

German Cliurch St. Paul — Four-and-a-Ealf west, 
between C and D south, (Island.) 

Unitarian. 

Unitarian — Sixth west, corner D north. 

Colored Churches- 
First Baptist — Nineteenth west, corner I north. 

Second Colored Church — Missouri avenue, between 
Sixth and I^eventh west. 

Asbury M. E. — Eleventh west, corner K north. 

Israel M. E. — South Capitol, corner B south. 

John Wesley Church — Connecticut avenue, between 
L and INI north. 

Little Ebenezer M. E. — D south, between Fourth 
and Fifth east. 

Union Bethel M. E. — M north, between Fifteentii 
and Sixteenth west. 

Union Wesley Chapel — Twenty-Third west, L north. 

Zion Wesley Chapel — D south, between Second and 
and Third west, (Island.) 

Presbyterian — Fifteenth west, between I and K 
north. 



i 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 79 

PRIVATE GALLERIES. 

In tlic way of private galleries, which, through 
the liberality of their owners, are occasioually 
thrown opeu to the public, these of W. W. Cor- 
coran, l']sq., aud J. C. McGuire, Ksq., are the 
most interesting and extensive In the former 
are represented such men as Cole, Huntington, 
Gignoux, Leutze, and Fisher of the American 
school, Ivobbe, of Dusse'dorf, Moreland of the 
English school, and Menirs and Salvator llasa of 

O 7 

the Italian masters, while the presiding genius 
of the place is the original (J reck Slave ol" Pow- 
ers. In the latter gallery are two small pictures, 
said to be by Ilubcns, one by Wouvcrman, by 
Edmonds, Durand, Huntington, aud a goodly 
number by other talented artists; and of pri- 
vate libraries, we may here mention one of 
great value. Colonel Peter Force's. The num- 
ber of volumes which it contains cannot be less 
than 50,CG0, comprehending a larger collection 
bearing upon the history of the United States 
than can be found elsewhere under one roof in 
this or any other country. Some of the rooms 
attached to it are enriched with works of art of 
almo^st every description. 



80 HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

ASSOCIATIONS AND SOCIETIES. 
Of these there is so great a number in "Wash- 
ington that we can only give their titles without 
any comments or particulars. Of Masonic frater- 
nity it has two Knights Templars, 5 Chapters, 
and no less than thirteen Lodges, viz : Federal, 
Naval, Potomac, Lebanon, New Jerusalem, Hi- 
ram, St. John, National, Washington Centennial, 
B. B. French, Dawson, Harmony and Grand 
Lodge. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows 
have a very fine Hall, where seventeen Lodges 
and Encampments are in the habit of meeting ; 
of the Order of lied Men there are four Tribes 
and one Council; of the Sons of Temperance 
several Divisions; and of United Brothers of 
Temperance four Associations. The Washing- 
ton Asylum is a large brick building near the 
Congressional burial ground, with a large garden 
cultivated by the inmates. It is under the man- 
agement of a Board of Commissioners, an intend- 
ant, matron, and other necessary agents, all of 
whom are appointed by the Mayor and the Board 
of Commissioners. Metropolitan Mechanics* In- 
stitute meets in the City Hall every Thursday in 
each month. The Orphan Asylum was erected 
twenty years ago, on what is called Mausoleum 
square, owing its existence mainly to the gener- 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 81 

osit}^ of the late Mrs. Van Ness. A society of 
ladies was formed in 1815 to give protection and 
aid to orphans, and Mrs. Madison was appointed 
first directress. Mrs. Van Ness was her suc- 
cessor, and for several years devoted herself to 
its interests. The association was incorporated 
by act of Congress in 1828. On this square, 
100, stands a mausoleum copied from the Temple 
of Vesta at Home, erected by General John P. 
Van Ness, for his family and that of his wife's 
father, David Burns. The St. Vincent's Orphan 
Asylum, at the intersection of Gr and 10th streets, 
has been rebuilt on a noble scale, and is liberal I}'' 
sustained by the Roman Catholics. The miscel- 
laneous societies of the city are the Columbian 
Typographical Society, Washington Library, Vini 
Lyceum, three lienevolent Societies, the Free- 
man's Vigilant Total Abstinence Society, and the 
Young Men's Christian Association. 

The Banks of Washiu2;ton are the Bank of the 
Metropolis, Patriotic Bank, Bank of Washing- 
ton, and First National Bank; the Banking 
Houses, Biggs & Co., Jay Cooke & Co , Ritten- 
house, Fant & Co., ]j. Johnson & Co., J. B. 
Hutchinson & Co., Barrow, McKclden & Co. ; 
and in Georgetown the Farmers and Mechanics 
Bank, and theBank of Commerce. 



82 HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

WASHINGTON HOTELS. 

Hotels arc quite numerous, but not sufficiently 
so, even now, to accommodate the public. With 
one or two unimportant exceptions, they arc all 
situated on Pennsylvania Avenue. The names 
of the principal ones are the National Hotel, 
Metropolitan Hotel, (late Brown's,) V»^illards' 
Hotel, the United States Hotel, the Kirkwood 
House, the Washington Hou^e, Avenue House, 
St. Charles, and the Clarendon Hotel. All 
these hotels are supplied with the best of a first 
rate market, and with numerous and generally 
accommodating servants. ^ From the doors of 
each, the stranger may at almost any moment 
step into a convenient and '^legant car, and go to 
almost any part of the city he may d'^.sire. The 
prices charged for board are not uniform, but 
the expenses generally are by no means lower 
than in such cities as Philadelphia, New York, 
and Boston, Of private boarding houses there 
are a great number, and by lovers of quiet these 
are frequently preferred to the more public estab- 
lishments. In addition to these, there arc many 
eating-houses, w'here the visitor pays in propor- 
tion to what he consumes. 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 83 



THE NATIONAL ARMORY. 

This edifice is situated on B street south and 
7th, near the Smithsonian Institution. The 
central portion of the building is only completed, 
v/hich is 103 feet in length, 57 in width, and 
three stories high. The second and third floors 
rest upon iron columns. It is designed for the 
reception and preservation of the arms of the 
volunteers of the District of Columbia, and also 
a depository for national trophies, relics, and 
armorial models, making it worthy of a visit. 



OFFICIAL SALARIES. 



As Washington is reputed to be a place where 
people meet to intrigue for office and money, we 
have deemed it proper to allude to the salaries 
received by the leading officials. The annual 
compensation of the President is 825,000, that 
of each member of the Cabinet, of whom there 
are seven, $8,000, that of the Vice-President 
8G,000, that of the Chief Justice of the Supreme 
Court $G,500, and the Associate Justices $6,000 



84 HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

each. All members of Congress receive ^3,000 
per annum and mileage, while the Speaker of the 
House receives §6,000. All heads of Bureaus 
receives $3,000, and the Clerkships range from 
$2,500 to $750. As a general thing, the jQrst 
of every month is pay day. 



OFFICIAL RECEPTIONS. 

Few strangers ever visit Washington during 
the sessions of Congress without being invited by 
a friend to a reception, and it is therefore proper 
that we should briefly allude to them. AVliat we 
have already said of those held by the President, 
where the only "entertainment" consists of good 
music by the Marine Band, is only partly true, 
when applied to the receptions held by the various 
members of the Cabinet. On one evening in 
each week do the Secretaries throw open their 
houses to the public, and though all strangers, 
when properly introduced, are cheerfully welcom- 
ed, it is not customary for residents to attend 
who do not receive cards of invitation, but these 
are always sent to all persons who have previously 
taken the trouble to leave their own complimen- 
tary cards. Some of the Judges of the Supreme 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 85 

Court, and many of the more hospitable members 
of Congress, also, hold receptions at stated times, 
but as these usually partake of the character of 
private parties, they are attended only by special 
invitation. A species of entertainment called 
the Hop has lately been brought into vogue by 
the leading hotels, and better occasions than they 
afford for the thinker to study character, or foi 
the young and joyous to have a good time gene- 
rally, are seldom met with anywhere. 

In this connection it may be well to add a few 
remarks on the etiquette of Washington generally. 
On the assembling together of Congress a sys- 
tematic exchange of calls takes place between the 
members of the Cabinet, members of Congress 
and the President. For strangers to call upon 
the President or the Secretaries upon business 
before or after the regular business hours is con- 
sidered improper, although this breach of etiquette 
is constantly committed to a great extent. As is 
usual in other American cities, it is customary 
here for those who have attended any private 
entertainment by invitation, to call upon the giver 
of the party on the second or third day thereafter. 
With regard to the minor customs of polite society 
in the Metropolis, it is only necessary to state 
that all such matters here, as is the case in other 



86 HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

enlightened communities, are directed by the 
simple precepts of good breeding. 



THE MARKETS OF WASHINGTON. 

From hotels the transition to the markets of 
the town is natural. Of market houses there are 
four, but the largest and most important is Centre 
market on Pennsylvania Avenue. In describing 
this, we describe them all. A greater variety of 
good things can no where be found collected un- 
der one roof, than may at all times be found in 
Centre market. The highlands of Maryland and 
Virginia supply it with beef and mutton, that 
cannot be excelled, while the adjoining country 
pours into it a variety of vegetables that makes 
one wonder where they all come from. In the 
way of fish, the Potomac yields a great variety, 
the shad, ro'-k fish or bii^.se and tho oysters, hav- 
ing no superior in the country : — and no market 
is better supplied with venison, wild turkey, orto- 
lon, reed-birds and the famous canvas back ducks. 
And then again, although the Centre market 
building is by no means a classical one, yet no 
market in this land has been frequented by so 
many illustrious men, — such men for example as 



nAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 87 

MarsLall and Jackson, Webster, Clay, and John 
Quincy Adams ; and those who take pleasure in 
studying the peculiarities of an interesting negro 
population cannot fail to be amused by a morning 
walk in and about the Centre market when busi- 
ness is in full blast. 



THE CLIMATE OF WASHINGTON. 

An erroneous opinion has for many years pre- 
vailed respecting the healthfulness of this city, — 
the grave yard records having conclusively proven 
the fact that there are very few more healthy 
localities in the Union. The climate resembles 
that of the adjoining States of Maryland and 
Virginia, and may be denominated as temperate. 
Many winters come and go without bringing a bit 
of snow, although the winter of 1855-6 will ever 
be remembered for its many severe snow storms 
and its excessive coldness. The summers are long 
and oftentimes oppressive, but the air is kept pure 
by frequent thunder storms. During the autumn, 
on the immediate banks of the Potomac, bilious 
and intermitting fevers prevail to a considerable 
extent, but the malarian influences do not last 
long, and those who have been acclimated are 



88 HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

seldom subject to these diseases. The magnificent 
distances of the city have often been ridiculed, 
but the broad streets and avenues are undoubtedly 
of great service in admitting to every dwelling a 
free circulation of wholesome air, which, with good 
water, may be considered invaluable blessings. 



SPECIFIC DUTIES OF EXECUTIVE OFFICERS. 

With a view of facilitating the views of persona 
visiting Washington on l)usiness, we think it 
proper to mention the executive officers and to 
specify their several duties. 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE. 

The whole machinery employed to conduct the 
business arising out of our foreign relations with 
all the powers of the world is far more simple 
than is generally conceived. The number em- 
ployed in the Department of State of the United 
States is only seventeen, as follows: One Secre- 
tary of State, one Assistant Secretary of State, 
one chief clerk, twelve clerks, one translator, 
and one librarian. 

Diplomatic Branch. — This Branch of the 
State Department has charge of all correspond- 
ence between the department and all diplomatic 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 89 

agents of the United States abroad, and those of 
foreign powers accredited to this government. 
In ii all diplomatic instructions sent from the 
department, and communications to commission- 
ers under treaties of boundaries, &c., are pre- 
pared, copied, and recorded ; and all of like char- 
acter received are registered and filed, their con- 
tents being first entered in an analytic table or 
index. 

Consular Branch. — This branch has charge of 
the correspondence, &c., between the department 
and the consuls and commercial agents of the 
United States. In it instructions to those officers, 
and answers to their despatches and to letters 
from other j)ersons asking for consular agency, 
or relating to consular affairs, are prepared and 
recorded. _ 

The Dishiirsing Agent. — He has charge of all 
correspondence and other matters connected with 
accounts relating to any fund with the disburse- 
ment of which the departmrnt is charged. 

The Translator. — His duties are to furnish 
such translations as the department may require. 
He also records the commissions of consuls and 
vice consuls, when not in English, upon which 
exequaturs are issued. 



90 riAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

Clerh of Appointnienfs and Commissions. — He 
makes out and records commissions, letters of 
appointment, and nominations to the Senate ; 
makes out and records exequaturs, and records, 
when in English, the commissions on which they 
are issued. Has charge of the library. 

Cleric of the Rolls and Archives. — He takes 
charge of the rolls, or enrolled acts and resolu- 
tions of Congress, as they are received at the de- 
partment from the President ; prepares the au- 
thenticated copies thereof which are called for ; 
prepares for, and superintends their publication, 
and that of treaties, in newspapers and in book 
form ; attends to their distribution throughout 
the United States, and that of all documents and 
publications in regard to which this duty is as- 
signed to the department; writing and answering 
all letters connected therewith. Has charge of 
all Indian treaties, and business relating thereto. 

Clerh of Auflicnfications and Copyrights. (The 
duties of this office have been transferred to the In- 
terior Department.) He has charge of the seals of the 
United States and of the department, and prepares 
and attaches certificates to papers presented for au- 
thentication ; receives and accounts for the fees. Has 
charge of publications transmitted to the depart- 
ment under the laws relating to copyrights ; records 
and indexes their titles; records all letters from 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 91 

the department, other than the diploinatic and 
consular. 

Clerk of Pardons and Passpoi'ts. — He prepares 
and records pardons and remissions ; and registers 
and files the petitions and papers on which they 
are founded. Makes out and records passports; 
keeps a daily register of all letters, other than 
diplomatic and consular, received, and of the dis- 
position made of them ; prepares letters relating 
to this business. 

ATTORNEY GENERAL's OFFICE. 

The ordinary business of this office may be 
classified under the following heads : 

1. Official opinions on the current business of 
the government, as called for by the President, 
by any head of department, or by the Solicitor 
of the Treasury, 

2. Examination of the titles, of all land pur- 
chased, as the sites of arsenals, custom-houses, 
light-houses, and all other public works of the 
United States. 

3. Applications for pardons in all cases of con- 
viction in the courts of the United States. 

4. Applications for appointment in all the ju- 
drcial and lej/al business of the Grovernment. 



92 



HAND-BOOK OF WASUINGTON. 



5. The conduct and arguaient of all suits iii 
the Supreme Court of the Uuited States in which 
the governmcvit is concerned. 

6. The sujDer vision of all other suits arising in 
anj of the departments when referred by the 
head thereof to the Attorney General. 

To these ordinary heads of the business of the 
office are added at the present time the following, 
viz : 

First. The direction of all appeals on land 
claims in California. 

Second. The codification and revision of the 
laAVS of the District of Columbia. 

INTERIOR DEPARTMENT. 

Has one Secretary, and its clerical force con- 
sists of one chief clerk, one disbursing agent, and 
ten other regular clerks ; and to its supervision 
and management are committed the following 
branches of the public service : 

1st. The Public Laiuh.—The chief of this 
bureau is called the ' ' Commissioner of the Gen- 
eral Land Office." The Land Bureau is charged 
with the survey, management, and sale of the 
public domain, and the issuing of titles therefor, 
whether derived from confirmations of grants 
made by former governments, by sales, donations, 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. C3 

of grants for scliools, military bounties, of public 
improvements, and likewise the revision of Vir- 
ginia military bounty land claims, and the issuing 
of scrip in lieu thereof. The Land Office, also, 
audits its own accounts. Its principal officers are 
a recorder, chief or principal clerk of public lands, 
principal clerk of private land claims, and prin- 
cipal clerk of surveys — all of whom are appointed 
by the President and confirmed by the Senate — • 
besides a draughtsman, assistant draughtsman, 
and some 106 clerks of various grades. 

2d. Pensions. — The Commissioner is charged 
with the examination and adjudication of all claims 
arising under the various and numerous laws 
passed by Congress granting bounty land or pen- 
sions for military or naval services in the revolu- 
tionary and subsequent wars in which the United 
States have been engaged. He has one chief 
clerk, and a permanent corps consisting of some 
seventy other clerks, to which Congress, to ena- 
ble him to meet the extraordinary requirements 
of the new bounty-land law, has added a tempo- 
rary force of about fifty clerkships of different 
denominations. 

3d. Indians. — The Commissioner of Indian Af- 
fairs is provided with a chief clerk and about 
fifteen other subordinate clerks. 



94 IIAND-liOOK OF \7ASniNGT0N. 

4th. Patent Ojfice. — To this bureau is com- 
mitted the execution and performance of all ' ' acts 
and things touching and respecting the granting 
and issuing of patents for new and useful discov- 
eries, inventions, and improvements :" the col- 
lection of statistics relating to agriculture ; the 
collection and distribution of seeds, plants, and 
cuttings. It has a chief clerk — who is by law 
the Actins: Commissioner of Patents in the ab- 
sence of the Commissioner — ten principal and ten 
assistant examiners of Patents, besides some dozen 
other subordinate permanent clerks. 

Besides these four principal branches of this 
new executive department, the organic act of 
1849 transferred to it from the Treasury depart- 
ment the supervision of the accounts of the United 
States marshals and attorneys, and the clerks of 
the United States court ; the management of the 
lead and other mines of the United States, and 
the afi'airs of the penitentiary of the United States 
in the District of Columbia ; and from tlie State 
Department the duty of taking and returning the 
censuses of the United States, and of supervising 
a.nd directing the acts of the Commissioner of 
Public Buildings. By recent acts of Congress, 
also, the hospital for the insane of the army and 
navy and of the District of Columbia is under 



IIAND-UOOK OF WASHINGTON. 95 

the management of this department ; and by as- 
signment from the President, it has added to its 
long list of duties the survey and demarc-ation of 
the unsettled boundary lines between the States 
and Territories and bordering nations. 

This department is at present very inconveni- 
ently separated and located, and should be appro- 
priately and permanently provided for. The Sec- 
retary's office occupies a portion of the new Pa- 
tent Office building, the General Land Office a 
portion of the Treasury building, and the Pensian 
Office a portion of "Winder's building," now the 
property of the government, whilst the Indian 
Office is located in premises not fire-proof, and 
rented of their private owners. 

TREASURY DEPARTMENT. 

The Treasury Department consists of the Sec- 
retarv of the Treasurv, two comptrollers, com- 
missinncr of the customs, six auditors, treasurer, 
register, solicitor, light-house board, and coast 
survey . 

The following is a brief indication of the duties 
of these several offices and of the force employed 
therein respectively : 

Secretary s Office. — Secretary of the Treasury; 
Assistant Secretary ; one engineer in charge; one 



96 HAND'BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

architect, and three draughtsmen temporarily 
employed, and twenty-three clerks. The Secre- 
tary of the Treasury is charged with the general 
Buper vision of the fiscal transactions of the gov- 
ernment, and of the execution of the laws con- 
cerning the commerce and navigation of the 
United States. He superintends the survey of 
the coast, the light-house establishment, the ma- 
rine hospitals of the United States, and the con- 
struction of certain public buildings for custom- 
houses and other purposes. 

First Comptroller'' s Office. — Comptroller, and 
fifteen clerks. He prescribes the mode of keeping 
and rendering accounts for the civil and diplomatic 
service as well as the public lands, and revises 
and certifies the balances arising thereon. 

Second Comptroller'' s Ojjice. — Comptroller, and 
seventeen clerks. He prescribes the mode of 
keeping and rendering the accounts of the army, 
n-avy, and Indian departments of the public ser- 
vice, and revises and certifies the balances arising 
thereon . 

Ojjlce of CommissLoner of the Customs. — Com- 
missioner, and eleven clerks. He prescribes the 
mode of keeping and rendering the accounts of 
the customs revenue and disbursements, and for 
the building and repairing custom-houses, &c., 



HAND-BOOK OF WASUINGTON. 97 

and reviises and certifies the balances arising 
thereon. 

Fir^t Auditor's Office. — First Auditor, and 
nineteen clerks. He reoeives and adjusts the ac- 
counts of the customs revenue and disbursements, 
appropriations and expenditures on account of the 
civil list and under private acts of Congress, and 
reports the balances to the Commissioner of the 
Customs and the First Comptroller, respectively, 
for their decision thereon. 

Second Audito}''s Office. — Second Auditor, and 
twenty-one clerks. He receives and adjusts all 
accounts relating to the pay, clothing, and re- 
cruiting of the army, as well as armories, arsenals, 
and ordnance, and all accounts relating to the 
Indian department, and repoits the balances to 
the Second Comptroller fur his decision thereon. 

Third Auditor's Office. — Third Auditor, and 
seventy-eight clerks. He receives and adjusts 
all a^ccounts for subsistence of the army, fortifica- 
tions, Military Academy, military roads, and the 
Quartermaster's department, as well as for pen- 
sions, claims arising from military sei'vices pre- 
vious to 1816, and for horses and other property 
lost in the military service, under various acts of 
Congress, and reports the balances to the Second 
Comptroller for his decision thereon. 



98 HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

Fourth Auditor^s Office. — Fourth Auditor, and 
sixteen clerks. He receives and adjusts all ac- 
counts for the service of the Navy Department, 
and reports the balances to the Second Comptroller 
for his decision thereon. 

Fifth Auditor's Office. — Fifth Auditor, and 
six clerks. lie receives and adjusts all accounts 
for diplomatic and similar services performed un- 
der the direction of the State Department, and 
reports the balances to the First Comptroller for 
his decision thereon. 

tSixth Auditor's Office. — Sixth Auditor, and 
one hundred and one clerks. He receives and 
adjusts all accounts arising from the service of 
the Post Office Department. His decisions are 
final, unless an appeal be taken in twelve months 
to the First Comptroller; and he superintends 
the collection of all debts due the Post Office 
Department. 

Treasurer's Ofice. — Trea>!urer, and thirteen 
clerks. He receives and keeps the moneys of 
the United States in his own office, and that of 
the depositories created b}' the act of the 6th of 
August, IS-i*!, and pays out the same upon war- 
rants drawn by the Secretary of the Treasury, 
countersigned by tho First Comptroller, and upon 
warrants drawn by the Postmaster General, and 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 99 

v-ountersigned by the Sixth Auditor, and recorded 
by the Register. He also holds public moneys 
advanced by warrant to disbursing offioors, and 
pays out the same upon their checks. 

Register'^s O^ffke. — Hegister, ajid twenty-nine 
elerks. He keeps the accounts of public receipts 
And expenditures ; receives the returns and makes 
out the official statement of commerce and navi- 
gation of the United States ; and receives from 
the First Comptroller and Commissioner of Cus- 
toms all accounts and vouchers decided by them, 
and is charged by law with theii- safe-keeping. 

Solicitor's OJice. — Solicitor, and six clerks. 
He superintends all civil suits commenced by the 
United States, and instructs the United States 
attorneys, marshals, and clerks in all matters re- 
lating to them and their results. He receives 
returns from each term of the United St-ates 
courts, showing the progress and condition of 
such suits ; has charge of all lands and other 
property assigned to the United States ii^ Pay- 
ment of debts, and has power to sell and dispose 
of the same for the benefit of the United States. 

Light-House Board. — This board directs the 
building and repairing of light-houses, light-ves- 
sels, buoys and beacons, contracts for supplies of 
oil, &c. 



100 HAND-BOOK OF WASinNGTON. 

The duties of the Coast Survey have already 
been described. 

NAVY DEPAKTMENT. 

The Navy department consists of the Navy 
Department proper, being the office of the Secre- 
tary and of five bureaus attached thereto, viz : 
Bureau of Navy-yards and Docks, Bureau of 
Construction, Equipment, and Repair, Bureau of 
Provisions and Clothing, Bureau of Ordnance and 
Hydrography, and the Bureau of Medicine and 
Surgery. 

The following is a statement of the duties of 
each of these offices and of the force employed 
therein : 

Sccrctarifs Office. — Secretary of the Navy: 
chief clerk ; and eleven clerks. The Secretary 
of the Xavy has charge of everything connected 
with the naval establishment, and the execution 
of all laws relating thereto is intrusted to him, 
under the general direction of the President of 
the United States, who, by the constitution, is 
commander-in-chief of the army and nav^. All 
instructions to commanders of squadrons and 
commanders of vessels, all orders of officers, com- 
missions of officers both in the navy and marine 
corps, appointments of commissioned and warrant 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 101 

officers, orders for the enlistment and discharge 
of seamen, emanate from the Secretary's office. 
All the duties of the different bureaus are per- 
formed under the authority of the Secretary, and 
their orders are considered as emanating from 
him. The general superintendence of the marine 
corps forms, also, a part of the duties of the 
Secretary, and all the orders of the commandant 
of that corps should be approved by him. 

Bureau of JSTavy Yards and Docks. — Commo- 
dore, chief of the bureau, four clerks, one civil 
engineer, and one draughts?:ian. All the navy- 
yards, docks and wharves, buildings and machine- 
ry in navy-yards, and everything immediately 
connected with them, are under the superinten- 
dence of this bureau. It is also charged with the 
management of the Naval Asylum. 

Bureau of Construction, Equipment, and Re- 
pair. — Chief of the bureau, eight clerks, and one 
draughtsman. The office of the engineer-in-chief 
of the navy, is attached to this bureau, who is 
assisted by three assistant engineers. This bu- 
reau has charge of the building and repairs of all 
vessels-of-war, purchase of materials, and the 
providing of all vessels with their equipments, as 
sails, anchors, water-tanks, &c. The engineer- 
in-chief superintends the construction of all ma- 



102 HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

nuQ steam engines for the navy, and, with the 
approval of the Secretary, decides upon plans for 
their construction. 

Bureau of Provisions and Clothing, — A pur- 
ser Uuitad States navy, chief of bureau, and four 
clerks. All provisions for the use of the navy, 
and clothing, together with the making of con- 
tracts for furnishing the same, come under the 
chartce of this bureau. 

Bureau of Ordnance and ILjdrograpIiy. — Com- 
modore, chief of bureau, four clerks, and one 
draughtsman. This bureau has charire of all 
ordnance and ordnance stores, the manufacture or 
purchase of cannon, guns, powder, shot, shells, 
&c., and the equipment of vessels-of-war, with 
everything connected therewith. It also provides 
them with maps, charts, chronometers, barome- 
ters, &c. , together with Ruch books as are furnished 
ehips-of-war. "The United States Naval Obser- 
vatory and Hydrographical Office" at Washington^ 
and the Naval Academy at Annapolis, are also 
under the general superintendence of the chict 
of this bureau. 

Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. — Surgeon 
United States navy, chief of bureau, one passed 
assistant sursieon United States navv, and t\v(» 
clerks. Everything relating to medicines and 



HAND-BOOK OF TrASIIIXGTON. 103 

medical stores, treatment of sick and wounded, 
and management of hospitals, comes within the 
superintendence of this bureau. 

POST OFFICE DEPAIIT1IEN"T. 

The direction and mana2;ement of the Post 
Office Department are assigned by the constitution 
and laws to the Po-stmaster General. That its 
business may be the more conveniently arranged 
and prepared for his final action, it is distributed 
among several bureaus, as follows: The Appoint- 
ment Office, in charge of the First Assistant 
Postmaster General ; the Contract Office, in 
charge of the Second Assistant Postmaster Gene- 
ral ; the Finance Office, in charge of the Third 
Assistant Postmaster General ; and the Inspection 
Office, in charge of the chief clerk. 

Appointment Ojjice. — First Assistant Postmas- 
ter General, and nineteen clerks. To this office 
are assigned all questions which relate to the 
establishment and discontinuance of post offices, 
changes of sites and names, appointment and re- 
moval of postmasters and route and local agents, 
as, also, the giving of instructions to postmasters. 
Postmasters are furnished with markino: and ratinsj 
stamps and letter balances by this bureau, which 
is charged also with providing blanks and station- 



104 HANIKBOOK OF -VTASHINGTON. 

ery for the use of the department, and with the 
superintendence of the several agencies establish- 
ed for supplying postmasters with blanks. To 
this bureau is likewise assigned the supervision 
of the ocean mail steamship lines, and of the 
foreign and international postal arrangements. 

Contract O^ce. — Second Assistant Postmaster 
General, and twenty-six clerks. To this office is 
assigned the business of arranging the mail ser- 
vice of the United States, and placing the same 
under contract, embracing all correspondence and 
proceedings respecting the frequency of trips, 
mode of conveyance, and times of departures and 
arrivals on all the routes ; the course of the mail 
between the different sections of the country, the 
points of mail distribution, and the regulations 
for the government of the domestic mail service 
of the United States. It prepares the advertise- 
ments for mail proposals ^ receives the bids, and 
takes charge of the annual and occasional mail 
lettings, and the adjustment and execution of the 
contracts. All applications for the establishment 
or alteration of mail arrangements, and the ap- 
pointment of mail messengers, should be sent to 
this office. All claims should be submitted to it 
for transportation service not under contract, as 
the recognition of said service is first to be ob- 



eAND-B0<5K OF WASHINGTON. 105 

tamed through the Contract Office as a necessary 
authority for the proper credits at the Auditor's 
Office. From this office all postmasters at the 
ends of routes receive the statement of mail ar- 
rangements prescribed for the respective routes. 
It repwts weekly to the Auditor all contracts 
executed, and all orders affecting accounts for 
mail transportation ; prepares the statistical ex- 
hibits of the mail service, and the reports of the 
mail lettings, giving a statement of each bid ; 
also of the contracts made, the new service origi- 
nated, the curtailments ordered, and the additional 
allowances granted within the year. 

Fiiianc-e OJice. — Third Assistant Postmaster 
General, and twenty-one clerks. To this office 
are assigned the supervision and management of 
the financial business of the department, not de- 
volved by law upon the Auditor, embracing ac- 
counts with the draft offices and other depositaries 
of the department, the issuing of warrants and 
drafts in payment of balances reported by the 
Auditor to be due to mail contractors and other 
persons, the supervision of the accounts of offices 
under orders to deposite their quarterly balances 
at designated points, and the superintendence of 
the rendition by postmasters of their quarterly 
returns of postages. It has charge of the dead- 



106 HAND-BOOK OF AYASIIINGTOX. 

letter office, of the issuing of postage stamps and 
stamped envelopes for the pre-payment of postage, 
and of the accounts counscted therewith. 

To the Third Assistant Postmaster General all 
postmasters should direct their quarterly returns 
of postage ; those at draft offices, their letters re- 
porting quarterly the net proceeds of thei-r offices, 
and those at depositing offices, their certificates 
of dopositc ; to him should also be directed the 
weekly and monthly returns of the depositaries 
of the department, as well as all applications and 
receipts for postage stamps and stamped envelopes, 
and for dead letters. 

Inspection Office. — Chief clerk, and seventeen 
clerks. To this office is assigned the duty of re- 
ceiving and examining the registers of the arri- 
vals and departures of the mails, certificates of 
•the service of route agents, and reports of mail 
failures ; of noting the delinquencies of con- 
tractors, and preparing cases thereon for the ac- 
tion of the Postmaster General ; furnishing blanks 
for mail registers, and reports of mail failures ; 
providing and sending out mail-bags and mail- 
locks and keys, and doing all other things which 
may be necessary to secure a faithful and exact 
performance of all mail contracts. 

All cases of mail depredation, of violation of 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON 107 

law by private expresses; or by the forging or il- 
legal use of postage stamps, are under the super- 
vision of this ofBce, and should be reported to ifc. 

All communications respecting lost money, 
letters, mail depredations, or other violations of 
law, or mail-locks and keys, should be directed 
" Chief Clerk, Post Office Department/' 

All registers of the arrivals and departures of 
the mails, certificates of the service of route 
agents, reports of mail failures, applications for 
blank registers, and reports of failures, and all 
comj)laints airainst contractors for irrc^-ular or 
imperfect service, should be directed '' Inspection 
Office, Post Office Department.'^ 

VTAR DEPAUTJIKXT. 

In the Secretary's office proper there are one 
chief clerk, seven subordinate clerks, two raes- 
scn2;crs, and four watchmen. The followin'r bu.- 
rr-;nis nre attached to this department : 

''%'inm Midin'i^ General's Otiicc, Adjutant General's 
Otdco. I;i this olUce are kept all the records which 
refer to the personnel of tlic army, pay rolls, &e. It 
is lierc where all military commissions are made out. 
The Judgo Advocate General is also connected with 
it. The Quartermaster General's OfTicc ; the Pay- 
master Gcucral's Office ; the Commissary Gcnera'lB 
Office; the Surgeon General's Office; the Engineer 
Office ; the Topographical Bureau ; and the Orduanea 
Bureau. 



108 HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

The schools of Washington are quite numer* 
ous. Of free public schools there are four, with 
quite a large retinue of primary schools, which 
are carried on at the annual expense of about 
$15,000. 

Select schools and seminaries for the education 
of both sexes also exist in diifcrent parts of the 
city, several of them of a high and established 
character. Public attention has been strongly 
directed to these institutions, and perhaps in no 
other city are there to be found superior advan- 
tages of education, which are annually on the 
increase. There are also several excellent board- 
ing schools in Washington and Georgetown. 



THE NATIONAL IKSTITUTE. 
The Institution was founded in 1810, and has 
for its object the promotion of science in all de- 
partments. It holds its meetings and has itsv 
headquarters at the Patent Office, and the Presi- 
dent is Peter Force, Esq. It has a miscellaneous 
library of nearly 4000 volumes, pamphlets, maps, 
and charts, with a few interesting manuscripts, 
^nd in the cabinet are man}'' medals and coins. 




11^ %z ^^ 

f s a: «J »r» "V . iSf ^ <] jSi 



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'"lit 






A ^ 







HAND-COOK OP WASHINGTON. 109 

1\rEDICAL DEPARTMENT 0? GEORGETOWN 
COLLEGE. 

This lustitutioa was organized by tlio Presi- 
dent and Faculty of Georgetown College in Ma}--, 
1851, under the authority of the law of Congress 
passed in March, 1815, conferring upon George- 
town Col!ca;G the riirhts and nrivile2:es of a iini- 
vcrsity. The college buildings arc owned by 
the faculty, and are situr.ted at the intersection 
of F and 12th streets, and have a central and 
commanding location. They contain lecture- 
rooms of large size and approved construction ; 
a well-furnished museum; a conveaient and well- 
lighted dissecting-room; together v/ith all Iho 
other apartments found in w^cU arranged collego 
buildings. 



COLUMCLV INSTITUTIOX FOR THE INSTRUG- 
.. TION OF THE DEAF AND DUMB AND THE 
LLIND. 
It is located on Kendall Green, near the junc- 
tion of M and Boundary streets, and was incor- 
porated in 1857. The facade of the front build- 
ing is built of pressed brick and dressed brown 
free-stone, sixty-six feet in length, twenty-eight 
in width, and four stories high. 
10 



110 HAND-BOOK OP WASHINGTON 

THE EQUESTRIAN STATUE OF WASIII::GT0!^. 

It is placed in the circle on Pennsylvania ave- 
nue and 23d street The statue is of bronze, 
elevated upon a stone pedestal, (another pedestal 
has been derdgnccl, with four concave faces, 
which are to contain some historical devices,) 
facing the cast, and presenting a side view on 
23d street. It is colossal in size, being eleven 
feet if standing erect, and fifteen on horseback. 

This is a work of art executed by Mr. Mills, 
at a cost to the Government of 850,000, express- 
ing with great truthfulness the high qualities of 
the patriot whom it commemorates at the crisis 
of the battle at Princeton. 



BOTANICAL GARDEN. 

In front of the western entrance of the Capi- 
tol grounds is the Botanical arden. Git is a bo- 
tanical treasury, in which the most rare plants 
are to be found. The Green House is very 
beautiful, and transplants one apparently to the 
midst of the tropics. The collection is gathered 
almost from all quarters of the globe. These 
arc all carefully arranged, and opened to the 
public for general inspection. 








EOUFS'l' ^fATOE'of WASHiNGTON 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 11 J 

HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE. 

Is situated very high oa left bank of the Po- 
tomac river, near the junction of the Eastern 
Branch. The site is a beautiful one, having a 
commanding view of the city and surrounding 
country. 

The design and specifications were made by 
Mr. T. U. Walter, and is in the collegiate style 
of Gothic architecture, very handsomely built of 
brick, presenting an imposing facade of seven 
hundred and eleven feet, divided into sections, 
each section recedins; from the center, and from 
each other, by which means it gives corridors in 
each section for the admission of light. The 
interior is conveniently arranged into wards 
adapted to the particular state of the patients. 

The central part of the building has buttresses 
on each corner, and tne main tower contains a 
ma^-nificcut oriel window. The windows sur- 
roundin^r the buildin;:;' are ornamented with cast- 
iron hood mouldin^rs. Attached to this institu- 
tion is an extensive farm, highly cultivated; and 
around the building are beautiful lawns, groves, 
and walks, presenting quite an ornamental ap- 
pearance. The whole of the grounds are en- 
closed by a substantial brick wall. 



GEORGETOWN. 

No stranger at the Soat of Gov^ernmcnt should 
ever think of omittiag a visit to Georgetown, 
which is on the Potomac abo^e Washington, and 
only separated from it by a charming stream call- 
ed llock Creek. It was formerly a place of con- 
eidorable commercial importance, and is even now 
a thriving and busy place. It is connected with 
the Coal region of Cumberland by the Ohio and 
Chesapeake Canal, and with New York, Boston., 
and the West Indies by lines of sailing packets. 
The brands of flour exported from this city uni- 
formly command the highest prices in the north- 
ern markets, and much the largest amount of 
sugar consumed by the people of the District of 
Columbia is imported directly to this city in 
vessels belonixins: to its leadina: merchants. 

The lofty eminences that overlook the town 
from the North and West are known as the 
IIei2;hts of G3or";etown. Alonq these elevations 

o o o 

gentlemen of wealth have built tlieir dwellings, 
and cultivated beautiful and extensive gardens. 
Here, when he was Secretary of War resided 
Mr. Calhoun, here also resided Mr. Bodisco the 
Russian Minister, and the P'^)lomatic Represcu- 

112 



113 HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

tatives of the French and English Governments 
resided here. 

The prospects from these Heights, of the great 
VaUej of the Potomac and of the entire City of 
Wiivshington, have been considered by travellers 
as unsurpassed in point of grandeur and beauty 
by any thing of the kind in the United States. 
Among the attractions of Georgetown aro the 
College, the Convent, the Female Seminary, the 
\queduct, the Cemetery and the Little Falls. 



.•"^.ORGETOWN COLLEGE, D. C. 

Georgetown College is situated on the north- 
ern bank of the Potomac at the west end of 
Georgetown, and commands a full Yie\Y of George- 
town, Washington, the Potomac, and a great part 
of the District of Columbia. Its situation is 
peculiarly healthy. 

In the year 1785, five gentlemen, the principal 
of whom was the Ilev. John Carroll, afterwards 
the first Catholic Archbishop of Baltimore, for- 
med a design of building ' ' An Academy at 
Georgetown, Potowmaek lliver, Maryland." In 
1789, the first house was built; in 1792 the 
schools commenced, and in 1798 we find it " The 



HAND-EOOK OF TTASUINGTON 114 

College of Georgetown, Potomac River, State of 
Maryland." la May, 1815, Congress raised it 
to the rank of an University. In May, 1851, 
"The Medical Department of Georgetown Col- 
leire" was opened in VfashinGrton, D. C. 

The College buildings arc spacious, and contain 
a fine Library of 25,000 volumes, an extensive 
Philosophical Apparatus, and a neat Museum of 
Natural History. An Astronomical Observatory, 
sixty feet long by thirty wide and furnished with 
Instruments of the first class, stands three hun- 
dred yards West of the College. 

The Academic year begins on the 15th of Sep- 
tember, and ends on the last of July. The col- 
legiate Course of Studies occupies generally seven 
years, inclusive of the preparatory classos, which 
last four ye.irs, unless tho proficijncy of the Stu- 
dent authorize an abbreviation of that term. The 
English Department, for those who cannot devote 
the time to the collegiate Course, embraces all the 
branches of a thorough English education. Math- 
ematics, and Natural Philosophy, together with 
French, included. 

The Public are admitted at all hours of the day 
to see the Establishment, and the President or 
some of the Professors, themselves, generally 
wait on visitors. 



115 HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 



ACADEMY OF THE VISITATION. 

This Academy, founde-d in 1799, is in a heal- 
thy and airy situation, on tho Heights of George- 
town in tho District of Columbia, contiguous to 
the eastern mar<i;in of the Potomac. The win- 
dows command a view of this magnificent river, 
and at a distance of the City of Washington. 
The hidies who are entrusted with tho direction 
and care of the studies, are members of the Ilc- 
ligious Order, founded in 1610, by St. Francis 
do Sales, and directed at the commencement by 
St. Jane Frances Fremiot de Chantal. Meek— 
ness, benevolence, and a moderate indulgence 
constituted the character of those venerated bene- 
factors of society, in their direction of youth. It 
is the study of their daughters to display these 
virtues, in the fulfilment of the high obligations 
imposed upon them by the confidence of their 
friends. 

The course of instruction comprises Orthogra- 
phy. Heading, Writing, Arithmetic, Grammar, 
Ancient and Modern Geography, the use of tho 
Globes, Prose and Poetical Composition, Sacred 
and Profane History, Mythology, llhetoric. As- 
tronomy, Moral and Natural Philosophy, Chem- 



116 HAND-BOOK OP WASHINGTON. 

istry, Mineralogy, Botany, Geometry, Algebra, 
Book-keeping, Frcncli, Spanish, Italian, Geniian, 
and Latin Languages; Music on the Piano, Harp, 
Guitar, and Organ ; Vocal Music, Drawing, 
Painting in Water Colors, in Oil^ and on Velvet, 
Plain and Ornamental Needle Work, Tapestry, 
Lace Work, Bead Work, &c. 

A public distribution of premiums takes place 
on the last Wednesday of July. 

The annual vacation commences on the last 
Thursday of July — the exercises re-commence 
on the first Monday in September. 

Strangers arc permitted to visit the Academy 
every day excepting Sunday; the most conve- 
nient hours are from 11 until 2 o'clock. 



THE AQUEDUCT, 



Which spans the Potomac at Georgetown, is a 
stupendous work, and has attracted the attention 
of European as well as American architects and 
men of science. It was constructed by Major 
Turnbull, of the Topographical Engineers, and 
cost nearly $2,000,000. It has nine piers, whoso 
foundations, which are of granite, are no less 



HAND-BOOK OF WASIIINOTON. 117 

than tliirtt/-r/tx feet under water ; it is fourtcea 
hundred and forty-six feet long-, and rises above 
the water about ibrty feet. It connects the Ohio 
and Chesapeake Canal with Alexandria. The 
scenery of the river, at this point, is varied and 
interesting'. 



OAK HILL CEMETERY, GEORGETOWN, 

Is located on the heights of the town ; entrance 
to the grounds, Road street, at the northern ex- 
tremity of Y/ashington street. It was laid out 
by G. F. de la Hoclie, Esq., on the forest land 
long known as Parrott's Woods, (a favorite place 
of resort in summer by the inhabitants of the 
place,) at great expense, and under the direction 
of the wealthy and very noble-hearted banker, 
W. W. Corcoran, Esq., who obtained a charter 
from Congress for it in the year 1849 (under the 
name of Oak Ilill Cemetery) as a tribute of his 
affection for the place of his birth. The situa- 
tion, being directly on Eock Creek, is romantio 
to a great degree, and the best t:istc has been 
displayed in iis arrangement, making quite an or- 
nament to thetov>'n, and which is constantly vis- 
ited by a number of persons. 



THE LITTLE FALLS.- 

TuESE arc about three miles above Georgetown, 
and at the head of tide water. The great Poto- 
mac is here so greatly contracted that a stone can 
be easily tossed from one sho>re to the other ; the 
fall of water is about fifteen feet ; the surrounding 
scenery is wild and exceedingly picturesque ; and 
the spot is particularly famous as a resort for the 
followers of the gentle art. The principal game 
fish caught here are the rock fish or striped basse, 
and the spot is sometimes visited by the anglers 
of places as remote as Baltimore and Charleston. 
The fame of the little falls has been somewhat 
increased of late years, by the fact that it was a 
favorite angling haunt of the Hon. Daniel Web- 
ster, Sir John F. Crampton, the late Biiiish 
Minister, and the late Hon. George M. Bibb. 



THE GREAT FALLS. 

The Great Falls of the Potomac, which are 
well worth visiting, are about ten miles further 

up the river, and may be reached by carriage or 

118 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 119 

canal boat. "When the Potomac is fall, the aspect 
of these falls is exceedingly grand, and the deep 
cut or gorge through the solid rocks which abound 
in their vicinity are exceedingly picturesque and 
interesting, being seventy-six feet high. The 
diversity and beauty of the scenery betvreen the 
Great Falls and Georgetown is worthy of all 
praise. A more interesting region for the ex- 
ploration of the geologist or painter can hardly 
anywhere be found. 



THE POTOJIAC WATER-AYORKS. 

From these great water-works the cities of 
Washington and Georgetown arc supplied with 
water, at a cost to the General Government of 
nearly four millions of dollars. 

On Lee's Hill on the heights of Georgetown, 
is built the High Service reservoir for the purpose 
of supplying vrater to the city of Georgetown. 
From the elevation upon the reservoir, the spec- 
tator commands a fine view of Georrjetown, the 
Potomac river, and the forest-clad hills of Vir- 
ginia. 

The Aqueduct is a conduit of masonry, circu- 
lar in form, and nine feet in internal diameter. 

It is built of stone or bricks set in hydraulio 



HAND-BOOK OF WASniNGTON. 120 

cement or wafer lime, wliicli in time becomes as 
hard as the bnck itself. 

The wliole length of the "worlv from the Great 
Falls of the Potomac, to the Distributing Pvescr- 
voir above Georgetown, is 12^ miles. 

The capacity of the work is to supply C7;,596^4C0 
gall-ons of water every 24 hours. 

New York has a supply of about 30,000,000 
gallons 

The greater part of the work is under ground, 
many hills have been tunneled ; many ravines 
crossed by embanlanents with culverts for the 
passage of the streams beneath the Aqueduct; 
but it is only at a few bridges that the Aqueduct 
itself can be seen, as all else is carefully covcrec 
with earth to protect it from frost or from decay, 
and the Aqueduct looks like an abandoned rail- 
way route from which the rails have been re- 
moved. 

The first structure to be seen in connection 
with the Aqueduct,, is the bridge by which the 
water pipes are carried over Hock creek, which 
separates the cities of "Washington and George- 
town. 

This is an arch of 200 feet clear span, com- 
posed of two immense cast iron pipes, four feel 



121 nAXD-1300K OF ^VASIIIXGTOrir. 

ill internal diameter, wliich in the form of an arch 
springing from massive abutments of sandstono, 
support a horizontal roadway, and at the same 
time convey the water of the Aqueduct across 
the stream. 

]\assing through Georgetown, and following 
the road alonuj the bank of the canal, we find 
just above the City anotlier bridge, in which, by 
a similar cast iron arch of 120 feet span, tho 
pipes cross the basin known as College branch, 
from the college upon the hill above it. 

About one mile above Georgetown upon the 
brow of tlie table land over-looking the Valley of 
the Potomac, and at an elevation of 145 feet 
above tide, we find the Distributing llcservoir, 
an oblong sheet of water containing about 10 
acres. 

It is nearly a mile long, and a quarter of a 
mile in width. 

Here the Aqueduct proper of masonry ends ; 
below this point, the water being conveyed in 
?ast-iron pipes to send through the Cities. 

The embr.iikinent of the A(iueduct forms a 

level road, and a pleasant drive through the 

beautiful scenery of the }*otomac Valley. 

Two miles from the Distributing Reservaii* wo 
11 



HAND-BOOK OP WASHINGTON. 122 

reacli the Receiving Reservoir, in which the 
water, retained by an immense embankment 65 
feet in height and several hundred feet in length, 
spreads out among the hills in an irregular shape 
resembling a mountain lake. 

Its extreme length is about seven-eighths of a 
mile. Its surface contains 52 acres, and its ex- 
treme depth is 40 feet. 

Here are stored up above the level to which 
the water could be drawn down in case of acci- 
dent, or while clearing out the Aqueduct from 
the fidls, 100,000,000 gallons of water. 

The two Reservoirs would supply, in case of 
any such emergency, or the interruption of the 
Aqueduct by a hostile force, 200,000,000 gallons 
of water. 

The gate houses, which regulate the flow and 
supply of water here and at the other Rcf^rvoir, 
are built in a massive and durable style, as though 
intended to last for ages. 

The heicrht of the water in this Reservoir is 
regulated by a waste channel, excavated through 
the solid rock to a great depth. The materials 
taken from this excavation were used in the con- 
struction of the embankment which retains the 
water and forms the lake or Reservoir. 



123 UAND-EOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

The Aqueduct enters this Reservoir by a tun- 
nel 800 feet in lenoi;th throu2;h solid rock. 

Passing over the Reservoir, we find again the 
level road on top of the Aqueduct, which winda 
through a bold country for two miles further to 
the Cabin John Bridge. 

This is a stupendous arch of granite, spanning 
a ravine by a single leap of 220 feet. The depth 
of the ravine below the top of the bridge is 10] 
feet. 

This is the largest masonry arch in the world. 
The famous Grosvenor Bridge of Chester, in Great 
Britain, being of 20 feet less span. 

The width of the bridge is only 20 feet ; its 
thickness at top 14 feet 6 inches; its extreme 
length 482 feet. 

The conduit, or water channel through it, is 9 
feet in diameter, lined with bricks and asphaltum, 

The whole of the masonry is laid in hydraulic 
cement. 

The country grows wilder as we proceed, and 
about IJ- miles above Cabin John Bridge the 
"Aqueduct crosses the Mountain Spring Brook by 
a graceful elliptical arch of masonry of 75 feet 
span. 

At the end of this bridge it plunges into the 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 124 

mountain, and in the space of half a mile passes 
tlirouirli Iwo tunnolr?. 

The two bridges above this point arc small ; but 
there are many tunnels, and the scenery is very 
wild and beautiful. 

At the Great Falls, IQ miles from the Presi- 
dent's House, a dam of stone crosses the river, 
and a massive construction in cut stone guards the 
head of the Aqueduct, which here admits the 
water to its channel, passing under the Chesapeake 
and Ohio Canal. 

A gate-house contains the gates and valves by 
which the water is regulated in its flow towards 
the city. 

Tlie first turf of this work was dug by Presi- 
dent Pierce, on the 8th November, 1853, in pre- 
sence of members of the Cabinet, of Congress, and 
the municipal authorities of the District cities. 

Appropriations were not given with regularity, 
and the work did not therefore proceed with the 
speed desired by the engineers. But, on the 3d 
of January, 1859, the day before the Senate occu- 
pied its new Chamber for the first time, the water 
brought from the Receiving Reservoir burst from 
the fountain at the foot of the Capitol, and rose 
with a jet of 99 feet in height. 



HAND-BOOK OP WASHINGTON. 125 



ARLINGTON HOUSE. 

By this name was the mansion of George WasJi- 
ingtoii Fork Custis designated. It occupies a 
commanding position on the Virginia side of the 
Potomac, nearly opposite Georgetown. The edi- 
fice is extensive, elegant, and imposing, two hun- 
dred feet above the water, and commands a very 
fine view of the Capitol. At this place were 
carefully preserved many rare and valuable pic- 
tures and other relics, descended from the ances- 
tors of Mr. Custis, and some of them once in the 
possession of General Washington. When Gen- 
eral La Fayette made his last visit to this country 
he was a frequent guest at Arlington House. 
And in this connection it may not he deemed out 
of place to mention the fact that for many years 
Mr. Custis, during his life-time, was in the habit 
of printing.iu the National Intelligencer, on the 
anu>i'vcrsary of General Washington's birth day, 
a chapter of personal reminiscences respecting 
the illustrious Chief. During the rebellion this* 
property has been confiscated by the Government 
and sold at public auction. 



ALEXANDKIA. 

Although no longer withiu the District of 
Columbia, yet this City is deserving of a passing 
notice on account of its venerable ai!;e and its 
attractions as a commercial town. It is on the 
southern bank of the Potomac, about six miles 
below Washington, and is accessible both by 
steamboats and omnibuses. Like its rival in 
commerce, Georgetown, it can look back upon 
the vicissitudes of over one hundred years. That 
it was early a place of some note, is shown by 
the fact, that five Colonial Governors met hero 
by appointment in 1775, to take measures with 
General Braddock respecting his expedition to 
the West, and the said expedition started from 
this place. But the remiTiiscences which the peo- 
ple of Alexandria mostly cherish are those which 
associate their town with the domestic attachments 
and habits of General Washington, in whose let- 
ters may be found a number of kindly allusions 
to his friends residing in this town. His friendly 
interest was manifested on various occasions, and 
especially so by bequeathing to the inhabitants a 
legacy of jC1,000 for a free Public School. The 
stranger in Alexandria is still pointed to tho 

126 



HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 127 

Chiircli of which he was a Vestryman, to the pew 
which customarily occupied, and many striking 
memorials of his life are preserved with care. 

It is also supplied with the somewhat peculiar 
attra2tion for a southern City, of a Museum. It 
comprises many personal relics of General Wash- 
in<^ton. and also a lar^c and valvable collection 
of specimens in Natural History. Its other attrac- 
tions are interesting but not especially peculiar. 

The town was originally called Belhaven, and 
is very handsomely situated in the bottom of a 
valley. The streets are laid out on the plan of 
Philadelphia, crossing each other at right angles. 

In making an observation from the town, the 
eye of an observer is terminated in every direc- 
tion by lofty and verdant hills, to the north he 
sees the city of Washington, the Capitol with its 
beautiful columns, Vvhite walls and towering 
dome forming a most conspicuous object; to the 
south the broad and majestic expanse of the 
Potomac opens upon him, with Fort Washington 
in the distance, con-^piring to render a visit to 
this ancient city a very agreeable one to the so- 
journer in Washington. 



MOUNT VEENON. 

. Op all the spots associated with the Natioual 
Metropolis, Mount Vernon is beyond all question 
the most interesting and attractive. It is situated 
on tho southern branch of the Potomac, fifteen 
miles from Washin;];;ton and ei2;ht from Aloxan- 
dria. Heretofore the most usual mode of vi^sit- 
ing it has been by Steamboat to Alexandria and 
the balance of the way by carriage, but -within- 
the past year a Steamboat line has been established 
directly to tho spot itself. The entire plantation 
contains several hundred acres of land ; and tho 
mansion is of wood, two stories high, ninety-six 
feet in length, and with a portico extending the 
entire length. The Central part of the house 
was built by Lawrence Washington, brother to 
the General, but the wings were added by the 
General himself, and the whole named by him 
after the famous Admiral Vernon, under whonj 
Lawrence Washington had served. It occupies 
an elevated position from which may be seen a 
reach of some twenty or thirty n)iles of the noble 
Potomac, extending botli to the eastward and to 
the westward. The Ladies' iMount Vernon a>.-u 
ci:tti- n uvvf h' Ids this proptrrty i>. tra>t The 

128 



ITAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 1£9 

trees which surround the house are quite nume- 
rous, and those which are known to have been 
phinted by General Washington have been care- 
fully preserved, and are objects of great interest 
to the visitors. The Library room of th<3 man- 
sion remains very much as when occupied by the 
Father of his Country. Beautiful v/alks arc spr<}ad 
out in every direction, but terminate at a summer 
house which commands a charming prospect of 
the ncif>"hbGrin<>; river. On a hill side some two 
hundred yards west of the summer house, and 
thirty yards from the mansion itself, is situated 
the vault where repose the remains of Washing- 
ton. The lid of his Sarcophagus is wrought with 
the arms of his Country, and his only epitaph his 
name; — and what an epitaph is that? By his 
side in a corresponding tomb are the ashes of 
*' Martha, consort of Washington." When La 
Fayette the noble and well tried friend of Wash- 
ington was in this country in 1825, ho visited the 
tomb, descended alone into the vault and was 
melted to tears, and as he was about to depart, 
Mr. Custis who had accompanied him to th-e spot 
prescntod him with a ring containing some of the 
hair of his illustrious friend. La Fayette exam- 
ined the mansion with great interest, and among 
the relics of the place, discovered the Key of the 



IBO HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 

Bastile, which had been sent to Washington many 
years before by himself, and which continues to 
bo one of the attractions of the place. 

To one accustomed to the plantation system and 
habits of Virginia, this estate may have much in 
common with others ; but to persons unused to 
this economy, the whole is new and striking. Of 
things peculiar to the place, are a low rampart of 
brick, now partly overgrown, which Washington 
had built around the front of the house, and an 
under ground passage leading from the bottom of 
a dry well, and coming out by the river side at 
the foot of the mount. On the west side of the 
house are two gardens, a greenhouse, and — the 
usual accompaniments of a plantation — seed-houses, 
tool-houses, and cottages for the negroes — things 
possessing no particular interest, except because 
they were standing during Washington's life, and 
were objects of his frequent attention. Along 
the walls of the room liang engravings, which 
are mostly battle or hunting pieces. Among 
them will be noticed a print of Bunker Hill, but 
none of any battle in which Washington himself 
was engaged. The north room was built b^ 
Washington for a dining room, and for the meet- 
ing of his friends and political visitors. The fur- 
niture of the room is just as when he left it, anj 







m^%' 






HAND-BOOK OP WASUINGTON. 181 

loads one back to the days when there were met 
within these walls the great men of that genera- 
tion who carried the States through the llevolu- 
tion, laid the foundations of the government, and 
administered it in its purer days. The rooms of 
the house are spacious, and there is something of 
elegance in their arrangement ; yet the whole is 
marked by great simplicity. All the regard one 
could wish, seems to have been shown to the sa- 
credness of these public relics, and all things have 
been kept very nearly as Washington left them. 
Money made in the stocks can purchase the bedi- 
zenry of our city drawing-rooms ; but these ele- 
vating associations, which no gold can buy, no 
popular favor win, which can only be inherited, 
these are the heir-looms, the traditionary titles 
and pensions, inalienable, not conferred, -which a 
republic allows to the descendants of her great 
servants. 



'^c 



132 HAND-BOOK 0-F WASHINGTON 

BLADENSBURG. 

A village on the turnpike road, also on the? 
Washington Branch of the Baltimore and Ohio 
railroad leading from Washington to Baltimore, 
about six miles northeastwardly of this city 
Before the revolution it had a cansidcraSle 
amonnt of trade, but its commercial importance 
has long since departed. The name of Bladens- 
burg is recorded in the annals of American his- 
tory, and its present attractions are the (iclda 
where a famous victory was won, or rather a 
bloody battle was fought. It is also celebrated 
as the Congressional duelling ground, where De- 
catur and other smaller men have fallen to satisfy 
a sanguinary code of honor. 



FOKT WASHINGTON. 

On a liigh eminence on the IMaryland side of 
the Potomac, about midway between Alexan- 
dria and Mount Vernon, is I'^ort Washington, 
giving protection to' the District from an enemy 
from the sea. The stcaaiers running to Mount 
Vernon, stop at this place on their regular trips, 
allowing an opportunity to passengers to visit it. 



